八
はち · hachi · JLPT N5 · noun
eight
🐝 hachi also means bee (蜂) — eight bees buzzing: hachi, hachi
はち is a homophone in Japanese: 八 (eight) and 蜂 (bee) are both read hachi. The character itself is just two strokes spreading apart, and that widening shape is why 八 is considered lucky in Japan — it suggests growing prosperity.
八 — two strokes diverging outward
Originally a pictograph of two lines splitting apart, meaning 'to divide' or 'separate.' It was later borrowed phonetically to write the number eight, and this borrowed numerical sense became dominant. The original 'divide' meaning survives in compounds like 分.