架 means “span, frame, rack”

か · ka

Also: erect, mount, support

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

かける, かかる

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

カ

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 9 strokes

The story

Wood (木) added (加) across a gap: a span or a frame. Tokyo's trains run on 高架, elevated tracks, with tiny bars tucked in underneath, a 十字架 is a cross, and 架空, built across thin air, means fictional.

Used in 架空 (kakuu, fictional), 高架 (kouka, elevated/overhead), and 十字架 (juujika, cross)

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