The kanji 鳥 represents "bird." It encompasses a wide variety of avian creatures and is the core of words and concepts related to birds, their characteristics, and related terms. This kanji captures the essence of a bird, its form, and its association with flight and the sky.

・On-yomi (音読み): チョウ (chou) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): とり (tori)

⚫︎小鳥 (kotori) Translation: Small bird ⚫︎鳥居 (torii) Translation: Shinto shrine gate (often associated with birds, as they are considered messengers of the gods) ⚫︎焼き鳥 (yakitori) Translation: Grilled chicken skewers (literally "grilled bird")

The kanji 鳥 is a pictograph. The original form of the character depicted a bird with its wings spread. Over time, the character has been simplified, but you can still recognize the representation of a bird's body, head, and tail. The development of this kanji began with drawing a picture of a bird, and then it evolved into its present form.