来日
らいにち · rainichi · JLPT N2 · noun
japan
✈️🗾 来 = come, 日 = Japan (short for 日本): come + Japan = 来日, a visit to Japan
来 means come, and 日 can stand for Japan, as in 日本. Together they mean coming to Japan. The reading らいにち splits as 来 (rai) plus 日 (nichi).
来 — pictograph of a wheat plant with grain heads
来 originally depicted a stalk of wheat with drooping grain heads, and meant 'wheat' in oracle bone script. It was later borrowed phonetically to write the unrelated verb 'to come,' which became its dominant meaning. The original 'wheat' sense was taken over by 麥 (now 麦).
日 — pictograph of the sun
日 is a pictograph of the sun, originally drawn as a circle with a dot or stroke inside representing the sun's substance. Over time the round shape was squared off into the modern rectangular form. It means 'sun' and by extension 'day'.