襟
Mnemonic
You find an old overcoat at a thrift shop. Stitched inside the collar is a strange prohibition notice: 'This collar must NEVER be turned up.' You flip it up anyway—and the prohibition triggers an alarm! Turns out, secrets were hidden inside the collar all along.
Additional thoughts
Picture the collar of a heavy overcoat with a bold red prohibition symbol stamped inside it. The forbidden collar hides emotional secrets, linking to the metaphorical meaning of opening one's collar/heart.Quick recall
An overcoat's prohibition tag hidden in the collar guards its secrets.Details
The keyword for 襟 is collar. This kanji refers to the collar or lapel of a garment, particularly the neckline area of traditional Japanese clothing such as a kimono. By extension, it can also symbolize one's heart or bosom, as in the expression "opening one's collar" to mean opening up emotionally. It carries connotations of both the physical part of clothing near the neck and a metaphorical sense of one's inner feelings or attitude.
- On'yomi
- きん
- Kun'yomi
- えり