開

Open

Level 47

How this kanji evolved

Explore each form from the oldest known stage to today.

The character 開 (open) evolved from ancient pictographs showing two hands opening a door bolt. In oracle bone script, it depicted two hands removing a crossbar from a gate. The character consists of 門 (gate/door) with 廾 (two hands) inside, representing the action of unbolting and opening a gate. Over time, the hands simplified, but the essential meaning of 'to open, begin, or initiate' remained consistent throughout Chinese script evolution. Arrived in Japan: The character 開 likely arrived in Japan during the 5th-6th centuries CE along with other Chinese characters when the Japanese writing system was being developed. It was incorporated into the Japanese kanji system through cultural exchange, possibly via Buddhist texts and diplomatic missions from the Korean peninsula and China during the Asuka and Nara periods.

Reading reference

Onyomi (音読み)

カイ

Kunyomi (訓読み)

あひら

Related Vocabulary

to open (e.g. doors), to open (e.g. business, etc.), to be empty, to be vacant, to be available, to be free, to be open (e.g. neckline, etc.), to have been opened (of one's eyes, mouth, etc.), to come to an end, to open (one's eyes, mouth, etc.), to have a hole, to form a gap

to open (a door, etc.), to unwrap (e.g. parcel, package), to unlock, to open (for business, etc.), to empty, to remove, to make space, to make room, to move out, to clear out, to be away from (e.g. one's house), to leave (temporarily)

opening a business, opening a practice

start, commencement, beginning, initiation

reclamation (e.g. of wasteland), cultivation, development, pioneering, opening up (e.g. of a new market), breaking new ground, trailblazing

development, cultivation, application, exploitation (of resources)

opening (a letter, parcel, etc.), breaking the seal, unboxing (a product), unsealed mail

opening and shutting, opening and closing

opening to the public, making available to the public, exhibiting, unveiling, release (of a film, information, etc.), disclosure, publication

reopening, resumption, restarting