The kanji 館 primarily conveys the meaning of "building," "hall," or "mansion." It generally refers to a large structure, often public or impressive, that serves a specific purpose. It implies a place of gathering, housing, or display. It suggests a place designed for a certain function or activity.

・On-yomi (音読み): カン (kan) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): やかた (yakata)

⚫︎図書館 (toshokan) Translation: Library ⚫︎美術館 (bijutsukan) Translation: Art museum ⚫︎旅館 (ryokan) Translation: Japanese-style inn

The kanji 館 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字, keisei moji). The left side is a radical (部首, bushu) and the right side is a phonetic component (音符, onpu). The radical is 食 (shoku), meaning "food" or "eat", which is used here to indicate function, or as a reference to a place where people can gather. The phonetic component is 官 (kan), which is used here to express the sound. In ancient times, 館 was often used to refer to places where people would eat and lodge, and gradually evolved to broadly refer to buildings.