鎖 means “chain, close off”

くさり · kusari

Also: irons, connection

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

くさり, とざす

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

サ

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 18 strokes

The story

Metal (金) beside small (⺌) shells (貝): picture a string of shells remade in iron. 鎖 is a chain, 閉鎖 is shutting something down, 封鎖 a blockade, and 鎖国 the two centuries Japan kept its doors shut to most of the world.

Used in 鎖 (kusari, chain), 閉鎖 (heisa, closure/shutdown), and 鎖国 (sakoku, national isolation)

More from Ropes & Knots

• 絞 wring
• 縛 bind
• 結 tie
• 維 fiber
• 締 tighten
• 繰 reel
• 括 bundle
• 綱 rope
• 索 search

Learn 鎖 and more kanji free on Fuji Learning · All kanji

Readings from KANJIDIC2, © EDRDG, CC BY-SA.