The first impression is usually one of discomfort or confusion rather than admiration. Most Japanese speakers will read 辛 as unpleasant, heavy, or emotionally harsh rather than inspiring. This character appears constantly in everyday speech — 辛い (tsurai — painful, hard), 辛さ (tsurasa — the feeling of suffering), 辛口 (karakuchi — dry, spicy, or blunt) — and none of those associations are warm. ...