蔵
storehouse, hide, own, have, possess
Readings
On'yomi
- ゾウ
- ソウ
Kun'yomi
- くら
- おさ.める
- かく.れる
Nanori
- くらし
- くらん
- くろう
- さし
- ざ
- ろう
Meaning
蔵 centers on keeping something safe and out of sight: storing goods in a storehouse, hiding something away, or possessing something securely.
Most common words using 蔵
20 of 161- 冷蔵庫れいぞうこN5
refrigerator; fridge
- 蔵くらN1
warehouse; storehouse; cellar; magazine; granary; godown; depository; treasury; elevator
- 内蔵ないぞう
internal (e.g. disk); built-in; equipped (with)
- 武蔵むさし
Musashi (former province located in parts of present-day Tokyo, Kanagawa and Saitama prefectures)
- 貯蔵ちょぞうN2
storage; preservation; stocking; stockpiling
- 地蔵じぞう
Kshitigarbha (bodhisattva who looks over children, travellers and the underworld); Ksitigarbha; Jizō
- 蔵元くらもと
brewery (sake, soy); brewer
- 埋蔵まいぞうN1
burying in the ground
- 所蔵しょぞう
(in one's) possession
- 冷蔵れいぞうN1
cold storage; refrigeration
- 蔵書ぞうしょ
collection of books; (personal) library
- 秘蔵ひぞう
treasuring; cherishing; prizing; holding dear
- 収蔵しゅうぞう
garnering; collection
- 酒蔵さかぐら
sake brewery
- 三蔵さんぞう
three branches of Buddhist sutras
- 大蔵おおくら
Ministry of Finance
- 武蔵野線むさしのせん
Musashino Line
- 貯蔵庫ちょぞうこ
storehouse; bunker; silo
- 大蔵省おおくらしょうN1
Ministry of Finance (1869-2001)
- 忠臣蔵ちゅうしんぐら
(story of the) Forty-seven Rōnin; the Treasury of Loyal Retainers; Chūshingura
Study
Etymology
蔵 is the modern simplified form of 藏. The older form combines 艹 (grass) with 臧, which likely contributed the sound and the idea of storing or hiding. The modern form replaces the upper grass radical with a simplified top, but the core component 臣 remains.
Meaning mnemonic
The outside 茂 suggests a covering, and inside 臣 looks like a servant guarding something. Picture a servant hiding goods under a thatched roof: a storehouse where things are kept safe and hidden.
Reading mnemonic
For ゾウ, imagine a storehouse filled with a zone of hidden treasures: zone -> ゾウ, and everything is stored away inside.