頭 - Beans, Beans, They're Good for Your Head

Readings & Meanings:

あたま

トウ

ズ

head, top

Common Usage:

頭がいい

頭部

頭脳

Examples:

彼は頭がいい。

階段から落ちて頭部にケガをした。

東大生は他の人とは頭脳が違う。

Translations:

He's smart. (lit., As for him, his head is good.)

He fell down the stairs and injured his head/suffered an injury to his skull.

• 頭 is the entire head region: skull, face, neck.
• 頭部 is just the skull part, not including the face/neck.

The brains of Tokyo-U students are different.

Mnemonic:

My titles for these posts usually are my attempt to make a mnemonic for the kanji. Today, I just realized that part of the kanji for 頭 is 豆, or bean! I know the old rhyme goes

Beans, Beans, they're good for your heart
The more you eat 'em, the more you fart.

but beans are probably good for your head, too. Just remember, 豆 is on the left.

Bonus:

赤頭巾 is the Japanese name for Little Red Riding Hood!
http://www.geocities.jp/fujimoto_yasuhisa/bunsho/akazukin.htm

References:

http://www.jlptstudy.com/2/index.html and http://www.thejapanesepage.com/kanji/kanji/a.htm