円 Yen

Radical Combination

• 冂

  Head
• 亠

  Lid

Meaning

Primary

Yen

Alternatives

Round, Circle

Mnemonic

Here we have a head with a lid in it, near the top. Imagine the top of someone's head being closed by a lid. Open that lid up and peer inside... it's full of yen coins, the currency of Japan. Jackpot! And all those yen coins have a nice round shape, naturally.

Hints

This kanji can mean both "yen" and "round"! It's OK if you can't remember both meanings. But it might help to think about how round the yen coins are inside this person's head, which can also be pretty round…

Readings

On’yomi

えん

Kun’yomi

まる

Nanori

None

Mnemonic

What does the word yen sound like? It sounds like えん. Why? because back in the day, Japanese used to have a "ye" sound, but now it doesn't. Instead, it's an "e" sound, which is why yen = えん!

Hints

Picture these round えん in your mind. Maybe look some up online too, just to be safe. See how round those yen (えん) are?