section, bureau, dept, class, copy, part, portion, counter for copies of a newspaper or magazine
部 centers on dividing a whole into smaller organized units: a section, department, or class, and by extension a part or portion of something. The counter sense for copies of a publication fits the idea of a numbered part of a series.
部 combines 咅 (a phonetic element carrying the sound) with ⻏ (阝, a variant of 邑 meaning a place or settlement), suggesting an administrative division or section of a settlement.
The left side 咅 looks like a standing person 立 with a mouth 口, and the right side ⻏ is a place. Imagine a person speaking to organize people into sections at a bureau.
For ブ, picture a bureau with many sections, and the sound of the word 'boo' echoing through the halls as someone calls out section numbers: boo -> ブ.
department (in an organization, company, etc.); division; bureau; faculty
all; entire; whole; altogether
portion; section; part
room; chamber
one part; one portion; one section
club; fraternity; sorority; clubhouse
interior; inside; internal
force; unit; corps; squad; troops; party
headquarters; head office; main office
outside (e.g. of a building); exterior
division (of a larger group); branch; field; class (subclass); group; category; department
subordinate person
head (chief, director) of a section or department
parts; accessories; components
northern part; the north (of a region)
management; (executive) staff; leaders; leadership; top brass; upper echelons
southern part; the south (of a region)
faculty (of a university); school; college; department
branch; branch office; subdivision
club activities; extracurricular activities
top part; surface
part (esp. of the body); region; site; cut (of meat)
one's post; one's station; department; bureau; section
lower part; substructure
staff; member (club, society, etc.)
western part; the west (of a region)
head
center; centre; middle; heart
faculty of medicine; college of medicine; department of medicine; school of medicine; medical school
eastern part; the east (of a region)
police inspector
tribe
fan club
rear; stern
details; particulars
Ministry of Education, Science and Culture (1871-2001)
abdomen; abdominal region; belly
section meeting
number of copies; circulation
faculty of law; school of law; college of law
chest; breast
hamlet; subunit of village
military authorities; army circles
one part; one portion; one section
faculty of engineering; school of engineering; college of engineering; department of engineering
department; bureau; section; part
faculty of science; school of science; college of science
affected part; diseased part; wound
front part; fore; front
Ministry of Education, Science and Culture (1871-2001)
radical (of a kanji character)
loins; hips; pelvic region; waist
faculty of agriculture; school of agriculture; department of agriculture
faculty of science and engineering; college of science and engineering; school of science and engineering
(Meiji era) official responsible for court ceremonies
the staff; inside the department
rural districts; counties
three parts; three copies
trilogy
central part; heart (of a city, etc.)
two parts; two copies; the second part
headquarters
(the) executive; administration; leadership
most part; greater part; majority
urban areas
information bureau; intelligence department
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology; MEXT
general affairs department (bureau); executive section
partial
urban area; urban district
baseball club (at a university, corporation, etc.); baseball team
development department
electronic parts; electronic components
executives; top management; governing body