上陸
じょうりく · jouriku · JLPT N1 · noun
landing
🚢 上 = onto + 陸 = land: moving onto land from a ship, so landing or disembarkation
陸 (riku) means land, and 上 (jou) means onto or up. Passengers reach 上陸 when they step from a ship onto solid ground.
上 — horizontal line above a baseline
上 is an indicative character (指事): a short stroke placed above a longer reference line shows the concept of 'above' or 'up'. The earliest oracle-bone forms used two horizontal lines for this; the modern shape added a vertical stroke for clarity. The core meaning of 'upper, above, to ascend' has stayed stable for millennia.