開

X958B 開 is Unicode character number 38283, KanjiLiberal.
開 uses 3 bytes: %e9%96%8b ; 233 150 139 in the decimal representation.

開 can be pronounced Akemasu or Hira and may mean open; used as verb.

Minako

Minako Okamoto suggests:

The sakura (cherry blossom) season which Japanese love will be coming soon, but this year it may be hard for us to simply enjoy it. I can’t get in the mood for ohanami (going outside to appreciate the cherry blossoms). Nevertheless, I think the beautiful sakura will make our heavy Japanese hearts a little lighter. Sakura has started blooming in Tokyo on March 28th. The forecasted day of first bloom for north-east Japan is from the middle of April.

The “forecasted day of first bloom” is literally predicting literally “the day the flower will open out” being predicted.
“The flower opens” (開くhiraku) is the same meaning as “the flower blooms”.
It is not 開く(aku), but 開く(hiraku).

The kanji is the same and the meaning is the same verb “open”, but what is the difference? To begin with, let’s look at “hiraku”.　Please imagine when a flower blooms. The bloom opens from the center and outward. This has the feeling of gradually being able to see the center.　It is moving toward more than two angles.

hana ga hiraku: Flowers open
te ga hiraku: Hands open
hon ga hiraku: Books open
jido door ga hiraku: Automatic doors open
mado ga hiraku: (French) windows open

Next, “aku” is to open by moving a thing like a key or lid that blocked a passageway. And, the movement is in one direction.
door ga aku: (Swing/push type) doors open
mado ga aku: (Sliding) windows open
bin ga aku: Bottles open
Given that there are situations when both “hiraku” or “aku” can be used, the above difference is not necessarily clear cut.
me ga hiraku/ aku: Eyes open
kuchi ga hiraku/ aku: Mouths open

Therefore, the grammatical difference is that “hiraku” is both an intransitive and a transitive verb. “aku” is an intransitive verb, and“akeru” is its transitive verb counterpart. The above example of “hiraku” is the case of the intransitive verb. The next example is the case of the transitive verb.
kasa o hiraku: Open an umbrella.
hon o hiraku: Open a book.
mise o hiraku: Open a store. (meaning “open a new store, start a business”)
When using the other transitive verb “akeru”, the meaning changes:
mise o akeru: Open a store. (meaning “open a store during opening hours everyday, open for business for that day”)

“hiraku” “aku “and “akeru” are quite complex, aren’t they? I think it is good to remember the fundamental rule and then check the rule every time you see a real-life example.
Finally, for everyone who is in Japan, these continue to be highly stressful days, but when we see the cherry blossoms, let’s greet spring with a slightly more cheerful spirit. I refer to my favorite waka poem about cherry blossoms:

harukaze no　hana o chirasu to miru yume wa
sametemo mune no sawagu narikeri [Saigyo]
(Even after awakening from my dream of flowers scattered by a spring breeze, I'm feeling unesasy.)

hisakata no hikari nodokeki haru no hi ni
shizugokoro naku hana no chiruram [Tomonori Kino]
(In the gentle light of a spring day, the flowers scatter without sincerity.)

If you change the boldfaced “no” to “ga” and read it, I think the meaning becomes easy to understand. Also, “flower” here means “cherry blossom”.

Jisho

Jisho suggests:

開 12 strokes
Radical: gate 門
Parts: 一 ノ 二 廾 門
Variants: open, unfold, unseal
Kun: ひら.く、 ひら.き、 -びら.き、 ひら.ける、 あ.く、 あ.ける
On: カイ
Jōyō kanji, taught in grade 3
JLPT level N4
59 of 2500 most used kanji in newspapers
On reading compounds
開花 【カイカ】 flowers budding, blooming, flowering, showing results, becoming popular, blooming
開演 【カイエン】 curtain raising, starting (e.g. play, concert)
疎開 【ソカイ】 dispersal, evacuation, removal, spreading out (troops), deployment
非公開 【ヒコウカイ】 private, exclusive, secret
Kun reading compounds
開く 【ひらく】 to open, to undo, to unseal, to unpack, to bloom, to unfold, to spread out, to open (for business, e.g. in the morning), to be wide (gap, etc.), to widen, to hold (meeting, party, etc.), to give, to open, to found (nation, dynasty, sect, etc.), to open (a new business), to set up, to establish, to start, to open (ports, borders, etc.), to open (an account), to open up (new land, path, etc.), to clear, to develop, to open (a file, etc.), to extract (root), to reduce (equation), to cut open (fish), to change (kanji into hiragana), to flare (e.g. skirt), to slacken (into a poor posture)
開き 【ひらき】 opening, gap, dried and opened fish
開き直る 【ひらきなおる】 to become defiant, to fight back, to turn upon, to take the offensive
開ける 【ひらける】 to open out (of a view, scenery, etc.), to spread out, to become clear (of a road, visibility, etc.), to open up, to improve (of luck, prospects, etc.), to get better, to develop (of a town, civilization, etc.), to become civilized, to modernize, to grow, to advance (of knowledge, ideas, etc.), to be sensible, to be understanding, to be enlightened, to open (of a new road, railway, etc.), to be opened to traffic, to become populous, to become densely built, to become bustling
開く 【あく】 to open (e.g. doors), to open (e.g. business, etc.), to be empty, to be vacant, to be available, to be free, to be open (e.g. neckline, etc.), to have been opened (of one's eyes, mouth, etc.), to come to an end, to open (one's eyes, mouth, etc.), to have a hole, to form a gap, to have an interval (between events)
開ける 【あける】 to open (a door, etc.), to unwrap (e.g. parcel, package), to unlock, to open (for business, etc.), to empty, to remove, to make space, to make room, to move out, to clear out, to be away from (e.g. one's house), to leave (temporarily), to dawn, to grow light, to end (of a period, season), to begin (of the New Year), to leave (one's schedule) open, to make time (for), to make (a hole), to open up (a hole)
Readings
Japanese names: はる、 か、 ひらき

Nihongomaster

Nihongomaster suggests:

開 12 Strokes Radicals: 一 門 JLPT Level 4

Definition of 開 open unfold unseal

Readings On'Yomi (音読み) カイ

Kun'yomi (訓読み) ひらく ひらき -びらき ひらける あく あける

Popular Words With This Kanji

開発, かいはつ, かいほつ development, exploitation

開く, ひらく to open (e.g. a bank-account, festival, etc.), to spread out, to open up (flower bud, umbrella, etc.), to widen (gap, distance, width), to hold, to give (party, conference, etc.)

開催, かいさい holding a meeting, open an exhibition

展開, てんかい development, evolution, unfolding, expansion, deployment, building up

開始, かいし start, commencement, beginning, initiation

公開, こうかい open to the public, exhibit

開放, かいほう open, throw open, liberalization, liberalisation

再開, さいかい reopening, resumption, restarting

開幕, かいまく raising the curtain

開ける, 空ける, 明ける, あける to open (a door, etc.), to unwrap (e.g. parcel, package), to open (for business, etc.), to empty, to clear out, to make space, to make room, to dawn, to grow light, to end

Charles Kelly

Charles Kelly suggests:

開 open カイ ひら.く、ひら.ける、あ.く、あ.ける

Strokes: 12, Indexing radical: 門

Selected Good Words to Memorize

開く あく; ひらく to open
開始 かいし beginning, opening
開店する かいてんする to open a store
店開き みせびらき opening a store; starting a business
..
開発 かいはつ development; exploitation (n) ****
開く あく (1) to open; to become open; to become empty (v5k,vi) ****
開催 かいさい holding a meeting; open an exhibition (n,vs) ****
展開 てんかい develop; expansion (opposite of compression) (n,vs) ****
開始 かいし start; commencement; beginning (n,vs) ***
公開 こうかい presenting to the public (n,vs) ***
開放 かいほう open; throw open; liberalization (n,vs) ***
再開 さいかい reopening; resumption (n) ***
開幕 かいまく raising the curtain (n) **
開票 かいひょう counting ballots (n) **

Nihongo-pro

Nihongo-pro suggests:

開 12 画

読み方 訓読み ひらく ひらき ひらける あく あける 音読み カイ 筆順 ストップ 一時停止 前の画へ 次の画へ ゆっくり 速く KanjiVG 提供のアニメーションデータ 漢字を検索 このページの問題点を報告

JLPTレベル別 JLPT N4 (初級上) 漢検級別 漢検 8級 (小学校3年生修了程度) 学年 日本の小学校3年で学ぶ漢字 部首 門 部首名 もん 英訳 Open, unfold, unseal

使用頻度 新聞で非常に使用頻度の高い漢字です。使用頻度がより高い漢字数： 約 60 字 JLPTの レベル 単語 英訳

N5 開あく to open, to become open

N5 開あける to open

N4 開ひらく to open an event

N3 開始 かいし start, commencement, beginning

N2 開会 かいかい opening of a meeting

N2 開通 かいつう opening, open

N2 開放 かいほう open, throw open, liberalization

N2 展開 てんかい develop, expansion (opposite of compression)

N1 開催 かいさい holding a meeting, open an exhibition

N1 開拓 かいたく reclamation (of wasteland), cultivation, pioneer

N1 開発 かいはつ development, exploitation

N1 公開 こうかい presenting to the public

N1 切開 せっかい clearing (land), opening up, cutting through

N1 打開 だかい break in the deadlock

N1 未開 みかい savage land, backward region, uncivilized

Kotobank

Kotobank suggests:

〘名〙 (動詞「ひらく（開）」の連用形の名詞化)

[一] 閉じ、ふさがっている状態を、あけ広げること。また、そのもの。

① 開き戸。扉。木戸。

※滑稽本・七偏人（1857‐63）四「開きを明て手を突こみ」

② 魚の腹や背を開いたもの。またそれを干したもの。ひらきぼし。〔古今料理集（1670‐74頃）〕

③ 物事を始めること。披露。開催。

※玉塵抄（1563）二六「献文子が家を造てできた時にその大夫がめでたいと云て室ひらきのいわい云たぞ」

④ 釈明。弁解。言いひらき。

※信長公記（1598）一二「長老申さるる様、若輩の旁(かたがた)へひらきを申候へ共、仏法の上更に耳に入るべからず」

⑤ 迷い、支障などが晴れること。悟り。

※俳諧・六日飛脚（1679）「図法師か軽さ重さを知られたり〈西鶴〉 あの開きでは楽に印可を〈友雪〉」

⑥ 失った生気を回復すること。よみがえること。

※滑稽本・和合人（1823‐44）初「肝をつよく閉ぢましたか夫を針で開(ヒラキ)を付けましたゆゑ」

⑦ 遊興すること。

※世の中人通例詞見立相撲（1830‐44頃）「ひらきにいこか」

⑧ 帆船が横風で帆走する時、帆を真艫(まとも)走りの位置より左または右へ片寄せる状態をいう船方ことば。こののばしひろげた状態にある帆を開き帆という。

※船行要術（1505）四「横潮の時、風強は難に可逢、殊にひらきの風は大事也」

⑨ 「ひらきばしり（開走）」の略。〔日本船路細見記（1841）〕

[二] ある位置・場所からの広がりぐあい。また、基準になる数量からの隔たりぐあい。

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References

Keywords

Charles Kelly, Confusion, Japanese, Kanji, KanjiConfudal, KanjiLiberal, KanjiRadical, Kotobank, Minako Okamoto, Nihongomaster, Unicode, X9580 門 , X958B 開 , X2FA8 ⾨