副 means “vice-, side, secondary”

ふく · fuku

Also: assistant, aide, duplicate

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

フク

JLPT N2 · Taught in grade 4 · 11 strokes

The story

A full jar (畐), the one in 福, split by a knife (刂) into a matching second half: the spare. 副 is number two: a 副社長 is a vice president, 副作用 a side effect, and 副業 the side job many people in Japan now keep.

Used in 副社長 (fukushachou, vice president of a company), 副作用 (fukusayou, side effect), and 副業 (fukugyou, side job)

More from Halls of Government

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