岸
きし · kishi · JLPT N3 · noun
shore
🌊🏖️ kishi sounds like kiss-she: the waves kiss the shore all day
岸 = 山 mountain + 厂 cliff + 干 dry: the dry ground at the foot of a cliff, where land meets water. The same kanji shows up in 海岸 (kaigan, coast) and 川岸 (kawagishi, riverbank).
岸 — mountain 山 on top + cliff 厂 + 干 (phonetic)
岸 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The top combines 山 (mountain) and 厂 (cliff/slope), suggesting a steep landform by the water; 干 underneath supplies the sound. Together it depicts a high bank or shore where land meets water.