香 - The Sweet SMELL of Millet

Readings & Meanings:

か

コウ

キョウ

かお（る）

fragrance, smell

Common Usage:

香り（が　する）

香水

香道

香港

Examples:

この花はとてもよい香りがする。

デパートで香水を買った。

香道は皆で香りを楽しむ集まりである。

香港へビジネス旅行に行った。

Translations:

A really good smell is coming from that flower.

I bought perfume at the department store.

"Koudou" is a meeting where people can enjoy fragrances (of incense).

I went to Hong Kong on a business trip.

Radical:

香 is its own radical, named Kaori. It's another kind of lonely radical, only used in 馨 and 馥.

The top part comes from 黍, which is moist millet. 甘 means sweet, and it shows an object in the mouth. These two pictures combined into 香 to describe the scent of boiled millet.

You can really see why Japanese people think rice is equivalent to bread. Think of how many people love the smell of bread. The same is true in Japan for cooking rice.

References:

http://www.thejapanesepage.com/node/kanji/ka.htm
http://www.thejapanesepage.com/node/kanji/o.htm