The kanji 旦 fundamentally represents "the sun rising" or "dawn." It depicts the sun emerging from the horizon. This core meaning relates to the beginning of the day and new beginnings in general.

・On-yomi (音読み): タン (tan) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): あさ (asa) (morning)

⚫︎元旦 (gan-tan) Translation: New Year's Day ⚫︎今朝 (kesa) Translation: This morning ⚫︎旦那 (danna) Translation: Husband (originally meant "master of the day")

The kanji 旦 is a pictograph. It originates from a character that depicts the sun, represented by a horizontal line, above the horizon, represented by another horizontal line. The line above the horizon eventually evolved into a more square shape to symbolize the sun. The shape clearly visualizes the sun just breaking above the horizon at dawn.