頭
あたま · atama · JLPT N5 · counter
head
🗣️ Sounds like: a tama (ball) sits on top of your neck — atama
Tama (玉/球) means ball in Japanese, and a-tama is the ball on top of your body. The kanji 頭 = 豆 (bean, giving the sound) + 頁 (the head radical), so even the character says bean-shaped head.
かしら · kashira · JLPT N1 · counter
head
🧠 組頭 kumigashira = group + head = group leader, so 頭 can mean chief
Standalone 頭 usually reads atama (あたま) for the body part. The kashira (かしら) reading carries the 'chief' sense, as in 組頭 kumigashira, a group leader.