局
きょく · kyoku · JLPT N3 · noun
station
🏢📺 局 = roof 尸 over a mouth 口: one building where staff speak for the public
Kyoku names an office, a bureau, or a TV or radio station. Compounds: 郵便局 yūbinkyoku is a post office, テレビ局 terebikyoku is a TV station, and 薬局 yakkyoku is a pharmacy.
局 — 尸 (body/shelter) + 句 (phrase, phonetic)
局 originally depicted a confined space marked off by a boundary, with 尸 suggesting an enclosed shelter and 句 hinting at the sound. From 'enclosed area' it extended to mean a chessboard square, then a defined situation, office, or bureau. Modern senses like 'department' and 'situation' grew from this idea of a bounded scope.