洋 means “ocean, Western”

よう · you

Also: sea, foreign, Western style

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

ヨウ

JLPT N4 · Taught in grade 3 · 9 strokes

The story

Water (氵) and sheep (羊): vast waves rolling like flocks across the open sea. Everything that crossed that ocean to Japan became 洋: 洋服 Western clothes, 洋食 Western food, 洋楽 Western music.

Used in 太平洋 (taiheiyou, Pacific Ocean), 洋服 (youfuku, Western clothes), and 洋食 (youshoku, Western food)

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

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