緩和
かんわ · kanwa · JLPT N1 · noun
relief
🩹 緩 = loosen + 和 = soften: tension loosens and softens, so the pain eases = relief
緩 (kan) means loosen or slacken, and 和 (wa) means soften or calm. Loosening and softening a tight squeeze is what mitigation does, so the strain eases.
和 — grain 禾 (phonetic) + mouth 口
和 is a phono-semantic compound: 禾 (grain) gives the sound and 口 (mouth) hints at meaning, originally suggesting voices joining in agreement or song. From this it came to mean harmony, peace, and 'together with'. In Japanese it also became the native word for Japan itself.