倉 means “warehouse, storehouse, granary”

そう · sou

Also: godown, cellar

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

くら

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

ソウ

JLPT N1 · Taught in grade 4 · 10 strokes

The story

A roof (人), a door beneath it and a base (口): the Shuowen pictures 倉 as a granary. 倉庫 is a warehouse, and 倉 sits in place names like 鎌倉, the old samurai capital, and 倉敷, the canal town lined with white-walled storehouses.

Used in 倉庫 (souko, warehouse), 鎌倉 (kamakura, Kamakura), and 倉敷 (kurashiki, Kurashiki)

More from Towns & Towers

• 舎 building
• 丁 block
• 棟 ridgepole
• 舗 shop
• 荘 villa
• 壇 platform
• 架 span
• 廊 corridor
• 亭 pavilion
• 瓦 roof tile
• 桟 jetty
• 楼 tower

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

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