火
hi
From turning the heat down to fireworks, one character
The picture A light catches at the bottom, rises in tongues, wavers, and makes whatever it touches hot. 火 climbs up and spreads as flame; 水 runs down and soaks in.
Where the picture shows up in 火
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the flame you work with
火を使うときは窓を開けてください。
hi o tsukau toki wa mado o akete kudasai
Please open a window when you use the stove.
Blue tongues rise from the burner ring with a pot sitting on top of them
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the size of the flame
弱火で十分煮てください。
yowabi de juppun nite kudasai
Simmer it on low heat for ten minutes.
A hand turns the knob and the tall tongue under the pot drops to a finger's height
弱火 and 強火 talk about heat as the height of the flame.
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flame out of its place
となりの店で火事がありました。
tonari no mise de kaji ga arimashita
There was a fire at the shop next door.
Black smoke climbs past a window as people run out to the front of the shop
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flame that bursts in the sky
花火を見に行きましょう。
hanabi o mi ni ikimashō
Let's go see the fireworks.
A single dot rises into the dark sky and bursts open into petals running out in all directions
花火 is a 'flower made of fire': the burst drawn as a blossom.
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the fire day of the week
火曜日にまた来てください。
kayōbi ni mata kite kudasai
Please come again on Tuesday.
One square of the calendar is stamped with the fire character and circled in red
All of it in one picture
火 is one flame rising and wavering. Use it on a stove and it is just 火, the heat; lower its tongue and you get 弱火, low heat. Let it spread past where it was wanted and you get 火事, a fire; send it up to burst open in the sky and you get 花火, fireworks; hang its name on one day of the week and you get 火曜日, Tuesday. From word to word, only the size and the place of the flame change.