橋（はし、hashi）
- bridge

The Japanese word 橋 (はし, hashi) primarily means "bridge." It refers to a structure built to span a physical obstacle, such as a river, valley, road, or railway. A 橋 allows people, vehicles, and other objects to cross from one side to the other. It's a crucial element in infrastructure and transportation.

⚫︎あの橋は古い。 Translation: That bridge is old. ⚫︎川を渡るために橋を歩いた。 Translation: I walked across the bridge to cross the river. ⚫︎新しい橋が建設中です。 Translation: A new bridge is under construction.

You can use 橋 when talking about real-world bridges. It is a very common word, easily used in describing locations, directions, or simply talking about travel.

The word 橋 is most commonly written using the kanji 橋. The reading is はし (hashi) in hiragana. There are no other ways to write this word for the meaning of "bridge." Okurigana is not applicable here.

There aren't direct synonyms for "bridge" in Japanese. You could use descriptive phrases like 渡り (watari, crossing) but only in very specific contexts.

There isn't a direct antonym for 橋. You could use words related to the obstacle the 橋 crosses, such as: ⚫︎川 (kawa, river) ⚫︎谷 (tani, valley) ⚫︎道 (michi, road) rather than words that are opposite of a 橋 itself.

東京には有名な橋がたくさんあります。 ・Translation: There are many famous bridges in Tokyo. ・Explanation: This sentence describes the location of multiple famous bridges in Tokyo.

その橋は夜にライトアップされて美しいです。 ・Translation: That bridge is beautifully illuminated at night. ・Explanation: This sentence describes the beauty of a bridge at night.

The kanji 橋 is a combination of two parts: ⚫︎The radical 木 (ki, tree/wood), which provides a hint about the material used to build the original structures. ⚫︎The phonetic component 喬 (kyō), which gives a clue to the pronunciation. Therefore, the kanji originally suggested wooden structure for crossing the river.