Mnemonic
You slam your hand down on the counter inside the rental tent—time to pay up! The vendor sweeps your coins off the counter with one swift hand motion, brushing them into a leather pouch dangling from the tent pole. Pay and go.
Additional thoughts
The sweeping hand gesture ties nicely to the kanji's dual meaning of paying and brushing away. Picture the hand physically clearing coins across a wooden plank inside a dusty tent.Quick recall
A hand slams coins on a tent counter to pay, then sweeps them away.Details
The keyword for 払 is pay. This kanji refers to the act of paying money or settling a debt, as well as the broader sense of brushing away, sweeping off, or clearing something aside. It encompasses both financial transactions and the physical motion of waving or wiping something away. In everyday Japanese, it is most commonly encountered in the context of making payments or disposing of something.
- On'yomi
- ふつ、ひつ、ほつ
- Kun'yomi
- はら.う、-はら.い、-ばら.い