坂 means “slope, hill”

さか · saka

Also: incline

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

さか

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

ハン

JLPT N2 · Taught in grade 3 · 7 strokes

The story

Earth (土) tipped back (反) on itself: a slope. Tokyo is full of named ones, like 神楽坂 and Shibuya's 道玄坂, and Osaka itself was usually written 大坂 until the Meiji era.

Used in 坂 (saka, slope), 坂道 (sakamichi, sloping road), and 上り坂 (noborizaka, uphill slope)

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