玄 means “dark, profound, mysterious”

げん · gen

Also: occultness, black, deep

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading): くろ, くろい
On'yomi (Chinese reading): ゲン

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 5 strokes

The story

A lid (亠) over a fine twisted thread (幺): something dark and too deep to see into. 玄関, the entryway where shoes come off, began as a Zen word for the gate to deep teaching, and 玄米 is brown rice, still in its dark bran.

Used in 玄関 (genkan, entryway), 玄米 (genmai, brown rice), and 玄人 (kurouto, expert/professional)

玄 means “dark, profound, mysterious”

The story

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