The kanji 柔柔 fundamentally conveys the ideas of "soft," "gentle," "flexible," and "yielding." It describes something that is not rigid or stiff, but rather adaptable and compliant. The character's core meaning revolves around pliability and the ability to give way or bend.

・On-yomi (音読み): ジュウ柔 (jū), ニュウ柔 (nyū) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): やわ柔 (yawa - soft, tender), やわら柔 (yawara - to soften)

⚫︎ 柔道柔 (jūdō) Translation: Judo (the "gentle way" or "yielding way" of martial arts) ⚫︎ 柔軟柔 (jūnan) Translation: Flexibility; suppleness ⚫︎ 柔らかな手柔 (yawarakana te) Translation: Soft hand

The kanji 柔柔 is a pictophonetic character. The left side is a radical called 木偏木偏 (kihen), which represents "wood" or "tree". The right side is a phonetic component 矛 (hoko), meaning "spear". The original meaning of the character was "young tree", which later evolved to express the meaning of "soft" or "flexible" because young trees are more pliable than mature ones. This combination of the shape of a spear and a part of a tree is believed to represent the soft, pliable nature of a young tree branch. The whole character indicates the nature of soft wood and by extension, anything flexible.