祭
まつり · matsuri · JLPT N3 · noun
festival
🏮 祭 = meat + hand + altar: hand offers meat at the shrine, hence festival
The top left of 祭 is meat (月), the top right is a hand (又), and 示 at the bottom is an altar. A hand placing meat on an altar was an offering to the gods. Japanese matsuri began as shrine rites, so the same character came to mean festival.
祭 — hand 又 holding meat 月 (肉) + altar 示
Originally a pictograph showing a hand (又) offering a piece of meat (月, from 肉) onto an altar (示), depicting a ritual sacrifice. The meaning extended from 'sacrifice' to 'ceremony' or 'festival'. As a surname read Zhài, it refers to an ancient state.