藩 means “feudal domain, clan”

はん · han

Also: enclosure

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

ハン

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 18 strokes

The story

Grass (艹) over water (氵) and 番: picture a hedge and moat around a lord's land, for 藩 once meant a protective fence. In Edo Japan a 藩 was a daimyo's domain, until 1871, when 廃藩置県 abolished them all and set up prefectures in their place.

Used in 藩主 (hanshu, domain lord), 藩士 (hanshi, retainer of a domain), and 廃藩置県 (haihanchiken, abolition of the domains)

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