薬局
やっきょく · yakkyoku · JLPT N2 · noun
pharmacy
💊 薬 (kusuri, medicine) + 局 (kyoku, bureau/office): the office where medicine is dispensed
Yakkyoku is built from yaku (medicine) and kyoku (office or bureau). Say it as 'yak-kyoku': a medicine office, which is what a pharmacy is.
局 — 尸 (body/shelter) + 句 (phrase, phonetic)
局 originally depicted a confined space marked off by a boundary, with 尸 suggesting an enclosed shelter and 句 hinting at the sound. From 'enclosed area' it extended to mean a chessboard square, then a defined situation, office, or bureau. Modern senses like 'department' and 'situation' grew from this idea of a bounded scope.