正月
しょうがつ · shougatsu · JLPT N4 · noun
New Year
🎍 正月 = correct/first (正) + month (月): the first month, New Year
正 means correct or proper, and 月 means month. The proper starting month of the calendar is the New Year. 月 is read gatsu here, the same reading as in the month names ichigatsu, nigatsu, and so on.
正 — one 一 + stop 止
Originally an ideograph showing a foot (止) advancing toward a target line (一), meaning 'to march straight toward' a city or goal. From this came the senses 'upright,' 'correct,' and 'proper.' The military sense survives in 征 (to campaign), which took over the original 'march' meaning.
月 — pictograph of crescent moon
月 is a pictograph of a crescent moon, chosen over a full circle to distinguish it from 日 (sun). The inner strokes originally depicted the moon's shadow or markings. As a radical it often relates to the moon, time, or (via a lookalike form of 肉 'flesh') body parts.