肝かん心じん要かなめ

か

ん

じ

ん

か

な

め

Meanings

1

noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no', na-adjective, noun

crucial; key; most important

Emphasizes that something is the absolutely essential core or linchpin of a matter. Often used in set phrases like 肝心要の〜 or 〜が肝心要だ.

このプロジェクトで肝かん心じん要かなめなのは、チームワークです。
What's crucial in this project is teamwork.
健

けん

康こう

管かん

理り

が

長なが

生い

き

の

肝かん

心じん

要かなめ

だ

。

Health management is the key to a long life.

Written forms

肝かん心じん要かなめ
Standard kanji spelling; 肝心 (essential) + 要 (pivot/keystone).
肝かん腎じん要かなめ
Variant using 腎 (kidney); less common but still seen.

Kanji

肝liver, pluck, nerve
心heart, mind, spirit
要need, main point, essence
腎kidney

Similar words

肝かん心じん
肝心 is a common standalone word meaning 'essential' or 'vital'. 肝心要 is a more emphatic, slightly formal compound that adds 要 (keystone) to stress the absolute core importance.
重じゅう要よう
重要 is the general word for 'important'. 肝心要 is stronger and more specific, implying that without this element, the whole thing fails.

Etymology

Compound of 肝心 (かんじん, 'essential', literally 'liver and heart') and 要 (かなめ, 'pivot' or 'keystone'). The combination intensifies the meaning to 'the one absolutely indispensable thing'.