阜 means “hill, mound”

ふ · fu

Also: left village radical (no. 170)

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

フ, フウ

JLPT N1 · Taught in grade 4 · 8 strokes

The story

Picture earth piled in tiers up a slope, stood on end: 阜 is a hill. Squeezed thin, it becomes the 阝 on the left of 阪, 陸 and 階. Written in full, it appears in 岐阜, Gifu, a name Oda Nobunaga is said to have chosen for his castle town.

Used in 岐阜 (gifu, Gifu) and 岐阜県 (gifuken, Gifu Prefecture)

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