社
Company, Society
JLPT N5
Interesting Fact
Many Japanese family run companies faced a difficult question: what happens if there is no suitable son to inherit the company? One traditional solution was mukoyōshi—adopting a son-in-law into the family. He would take the family name, become the legal heir, and eventually lead the business. It's a practice that helped some companies survive for centuries. Popular companies like Toyota, Suzuki, Canon, Kikkoman, and Nintendo have been led by adopted heirs
Memory Trick
Before there were office buildings, there was a shrine. The altar (礻) on the land (土) became a gathering place for the community. That's 社.
Readings
Onyomi: シャ (sha)
Kunyomi:
Example Words
会社
かいしゃ (kaisha)
Company
社員
しゃいん (shain)
Employee
社会
しゃかい (shakai)
Society
神社
じんじゃ (Jinja)
Shinto shrine
Example Sentence
父は大きな会社で働いています。
ちち は おおきな かいしゃ で はたらいています。
chichi wa ookina kaisha de hataraiteimasu
My father works at a large company.