役 - SERVE Your Country, Go to WAR

Readings & Meanings:

エキ

ヤク

war, office, duty, role, service

Common Usage:

主役

市役所

懲役

役に立つ

Examples:

彼女はそのドラマの主役が好きだ。

市役所に行く。

その男は強盗罪を犯して、懲役二十年の判決をくだされた。

SokaSokaのウェブサイトは日本語の勉強にとても役に立つ。

Translations:

She likes the leading man of that drama.

I'm going to city hall.

He committed a burglary and was sentenced to 20 years of hard labor.

The website of SokaSoka is very helpful for studying Japanese.

Radical:

Gyou-nin-ben, 彳, on the left. Think of 行く.

殳 on the right. While this seems to be a pictograph of a pike, Kanji Networks says it is "almost exclusively used as an action indicator." See below, from this page.

　Five elements having something to do with a hand account for nearly all action indicators. These are 手, 又, 寸, 殳 (originally, a hand placing an object upright) and 攴 (variant form: 攵), originally a hand wielding a stick.

　The only other action indicator used with any frequency is 彳. Drawn from the left side of 行 go/crossroads, 彳 normally indicates "movement," but functions as an action indicator in characters such as 律, 得, 徳, 徹 and 循.

　Among other elements employed as action indicators are 廾 pair of hands (in 弊), 夂 leg (in 腹), and 辵 movement (in 選).

So two action indicators in one kanji! The time for action is clearly now.

役 means go to your post, immediately! Do not pass go, do not collect $200. We're at war, soldier. Report!

References:

http://www.kanjinetworks.com/indices/radindex.html
http://www.thejapanesepage.com/node/kanji/e.htm