The kanji character 革 represents "leather" or "skin." It refers to the prepared hide of an animal, tanned and treated for various uses. The core meaning focuses on the processed material that results from transforming animal skin.

・On-yomi (音読み): カク (kaku) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): かわ (kawa)

⚫︎ 革製品 Translation: Leather products ⚫︎ 革命 Translation: Revolution (literally, "changing the skin" - a drastic transformation) ⚫︎ 革新 Translation: Innovation (literally, "new leather" - to renew or reform)

The kanji 革 is a pictograph. It originally depicted the process of tanning animal hides. The top part represents the animal hide being stretched, and the bottom part possibly depicts the tools used in the process. Over time, the form became simplified, but it retained the core meaning of processed leather.