薬

Medicine

くすり (kusuri)

JLPT N4

Interesting Fact

🍵When green tea first arrived in Japan over 800 years ago, it wasn't an everyday drink—it was considered a valuable medicine. Buddhist monks drank it to stay awake during long meditation sessions, while nobles believed it improved health and extended life. Only much later did tea become the daily beverage loved throughout Japan.

Memory Trick

🌿 The top is grass (艹) radical. The bottom is kanji of fun (楽). Imagine a doctor saying, "Take these healing herbs, and soon you'll be back to having fun!" Grass + Fun = Medicine (薬).