陰 means “shade, yin, hidden”

かげ · kage

Also: negative, sex organs

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

かげ, かげる

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

イン

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 11 strokes

The story

A hill (阝) where clouds (云) gather now (今): the slope the sun does not reach. 陰 is shade: 日陰 is the shady side, お陰様で, thanks to you, is resting in the shade of others' help, and 陰 is the yin of 陰陽.

Used in 日陰 (hikage, shade), お陰様で (okagesama de, thanks to you), and 陰謀 (inbou, conspiracy)

More from Light & Shadow

• 暁 daybreak
• 闇 darkness
• 宵 evening
• 旦 dawn
• 昭 bright
• 宙 midair
• 透 transparent
• 輝 shine
• 雰 atmosphere
• 暖 warm

Learn 陰 and more kanji free on Fuji Learning · All kanji

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