thought · imagine

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 想 has 13 strokes and the on-reading そう. 感想 (かんそう) and 想像 (そうぞう) both concern thought but have different uses.
• Basic usage: 感想 means an impression formed after seeing or hearing something; 想像 means imagining something such as a scene not directly observed.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Impressions after an experience and imagined scenes
  • 映画を見た感想 refers to impressions of a movie after watching it. 率直な感想を尋ねた means asking those who heard a presentation for their honest reactions.
  • 百年後の町の姿 names the town one hundred years in the future that people imagined in the example. 写真だけでは現地の広さを想像できない means that one cannot imagine how vast the place is from photographs alone.