辺 means “vicinity, area, edge”

へん · hen

Also: environs, boundary, border

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

あたり, ほとり

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

ヘン

JLPT N2 · Taught in grade 4 · 5 strokes

The story

Walking (辶) out to where a knife (刀) cut the map off: the edges, and everything around them. この辺 is "around here," 周辺 the surrounding area, and 海辺 is the seaside, where 辺 is read べ.

Used in この辺 (kono hen, around here), 周辺 (shuuhen, surrounding area), and 海辺 (umibe, seaside/beach)

More from Maps & Borders

• 湾 bay
• 周 around
• 央 center
• 河 river
• 坂 slope
• 郊 suburbs
• 湖 lake
• 島 island
• 境 border
• 州 state
• 域 region
• 欧 Europe

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