裏 means “back, reverse, lining”

うら · ura

Also: amidst, in

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

うら

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

リ

JLPT N2 · Taught in grade 6 · 13 strokes

The story

Clothing (衣) opened up with a village (里) tucked inside: the lining, the side nobody sees. 裏 is the back or hidden side, 裏口 the back door, 裏切る to betray, and in baseball 九回裏 is the bottom of the ninth.

Used in 裏 (ura, back/reverse side), 裏口 (uraguchi, back door), and 裏切る (uragiru, to betray)

More from Halls & Hidden Corners

• 庫 storehouse
• 底 bottom
• 宇 universe
• 奥 interior
• 殿 palace
• 隅 corner
• 囲 surround

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