岸 means “shore, bank”

きし · kishi

Also: beach

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

きし

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

ガン

Taught in grade 3 · 8 strokes

The story

Moonlit shores beckon lovers in classical tales, the boundary between two worlds.

Often used in historical and romantic narratives

Its parts

• 山 Mountain · Top
• 厂 Cliff · Center
• 干 Dry/shore · Bottom

Where the mountain (山) cliff (厂) meets dry (干) land: the shore

Kanji that look like 岸

• 岩 (rock / boulder): 岩 has 山 + 石, 岸 has 山 + 厂 + 干: rocky mountain vs river bank

More from Nature's Poetry

• 崖 cliff
• 庭 garden
• 枝 branch
• 根 root
• 樹 tree
• 桜 cherry blossom
• 嵐 storm
• 霧 fog
• 雨 rain
• 木 tree
• 月 moon
• 日 sun

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

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