殻 means “shell, husk”

から · kara

Also: nut shell

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

から, がら

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

カク, コク, バイ

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 11 strokes

The story

A hand with a mallet (殳) cracking open the hard case on the left: a shell. 貝殻 are seashells, 卵の殻 is eggshell, 殻に閉じこもる is retreating into your shell, and 地殻 is the earth's crust.

Used in 殻 (kara, shell/husk), 貝殻 (kaigara, seashell), and 地殻 (chikaku, earth's crust)

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