壌 means “soil, earth”

じょう · jou

Also: lot

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

つち

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

ジョウ

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 16 strokes

The story

Earth (土) beside the same right side as 嬢 and 譲: picture soil turned and layered by the plow. 壌 lives in 土壌, soil, the ground crops grow in, and also, figuratively, the breeding ground for anything, good or bad.

Used in 土壌 (dojou, soil) and 土壌汚染 (dojou osen, soil contamination)

More from Paddy & Pasture

• 培 cultivate
• 肥 fertilizer
• 俵 straw bale
• 栽 plant
• 拓 clear land
• 鎌 sickle
• 穫 harvest
• 穂 ear of grain
• 芽 bud
• 苗 seedling
• 刈 cut
• 穀 grain

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