桑 means “mulberry”

くわ · kuwa

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

くわ

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

ソウ

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 10 strokes

The story

Three hands (又又又) picking leaves from a tree (木): the mulberry, whose leaves feed silkworms. When silk was Japan's great export, 桑畑, mulberry fields, covered the hills around mills like Gunma's Tomioka.

Used in 桑 (kuwa, mulberry), 桑畑 (kuwabatake, mulberry field), and 桑名 (kuwana, Kuwana)

More from Trees & Blossoms

• 柿 persimmon
• 桃 peach
• 茎 stem
• 萎 wilt
• 藤 wisteria
• 松 pine
• 芝 lawn
• 杉 Japanese cedar
• 柳 willow
• 梅 Japanese plum
• 菊 chrysanthemum
• 梨 pear

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