茨 means “thorn, briar”

いばら · ibara

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

いばら, かや, くさぶき

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

シ, ジ

JLPT N1 · Taught in grade 4 · 9 strokes

The story

Grass (艹) over 次, next: picture thorny weeds springing up one after the next. 茨 is a briar: 茨の道 is a thorny road of hardship, and 茨城, Ibaraki, is a prefecture whose old local records tie its name to thorns.

Used in 茨城 (ibaraki, Ibaraki), 茨 (ibara, briar/thorn), and 茨の道 (ibara no michi, path of thorns)

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