The kanji 楽 generally conveys the core meanings of "enjoyment," "pleasure," "comfort," "ease," and "happiness." It often implies a state of being free from worry or stress, experiencing joy, or finding something agreeable. It also suggests something that is easy or effortless.

・On-yomi (音読み): ・ラク (raku) ・ガク (gaku) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): ・たの（しい） (tano(shii)) - enjoyable, fun ・たの（しむ） (tano(shimu)) - to enjoy, to have fun

⚫︎ 音楽 (ongaku) Translation: music ⚫︎ 楽しい (tanoshii) Translation: fun, enjoyable ⚫︎ 楽な仕事 (rakuna shigoto) Translation: an easy job

The kanji 楽 is a pictophonetic character, meaning that it combines a phonetic component with a semantic component. The left part of the character is a depiction of a musical instrument. The right part of the character 木 (ki) meaning "tree, wood", has been proposed as the semantic component. This component seems to be related to ancient music playing with instruments made of wood. The phonetic component, which once looked like a stylized representation of string instruments, provides the sound. The combination evokes the idea of joy and pleasure associated with music and leisure.