新鮮
しんせん · shinsen · JLPT N3 · na-adj
fresh
🐟🥬 新鮮 = new (新) + fresh fish (鮮): newly caught, so fresh
新 means new; 鮮 is built from 魚 (fish) + 羊 (sheep), the classic kanji for fresh food. Sound hook: shinsen shares shin with 新聞 (shinbun, newspaper) and 新幹線 (shinkansen) — the same new.
新 — 立 stand + 木 tree + 斤 axe
Originally depicted cutting fresh wood with an axe (斤) from a tree (木), with 辛/立 as the phonetic component. The original meaning of 'firewood' was later written as 薪, while 新 took on the extended sense of 'new' or 'fresh'.