棟 means “ridgepole, building (counter)”

とう · tou

Also: ridge

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading): むね, むな-
On'yomi (Chinese reading): トウ

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 12 strokes

The story

Wood (木) and east (東): picture the long beam laid along the very top of a roof. At a 棟上げ, carpenters raise the ridgepole, sometimes scattering rice cakes to the neighbors, and 棟 now counts whole buildings: a hospital's 病棟, an estate's A棟.

Used in 病棟 (byoutou, hospital ward), 棟上げ (muneage, ridgepole raising), and 二棟 (nitou, two buildings)

棟 means “ridgepole, building (counter)”

The story

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