塚 means “mound, burial mound”

つか · tsuka

Also: hillock

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading): つか
On'yomi (Chinese reading): チョウ

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 12 strokes

The story

Earth (土) heaped over a covered (冖) pig (豕): picture an animal buried under a mound of soil. 塚 is a mound, often an old grave: 貝塚 are ancient shell heaps, and 塚 lives on in place names like 宝塚, home of the all-female Takarazuka Revue.

Used in 塚 (tsuka, mound), 貝塚 (kaizuka, shell mound), and 一里塚 (ichirizuka, roadside milestone mound)

塚 means “mound, burial mound”

The story

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