側 means “side”

がわ · gawa

Also: lean, oppose, regret

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

かわ, がわ, そば

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

ソク

JLPT N3 · Taught in grade 4 · 11 strokes

The story

A person (亻) beside a rule (則) drawn down the middle: pick a side. 窓側 is the window seat, 左側通行 keeps Japan's traffic on the left, and on escalators Tokyo stands on the left, Osaka on the right.

Used in 右側 (migigawa, right side), 窓側 (madogawa, window side), and 反対側 (hantaigawa, the opposite side)

More from Ties & Differences

• 違 differ
• 差 difference
• 横 side
• 雑 mixed
• 互 each other
• 似 resemble
• 緒 together
• 内 inside
• 相 mutual
• 関 connection
• 平 flat
• 共 together

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

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