音読み: none.
訓読み: とうげ
画数: 9
部首: 山（やまへん）
Meaning
Mountain pass / Ridge / Peak / Critical point
- 峠 — a mountain pass
- 峠道 — winding pass road
- 峠越え — crossing a pass
- 峠を越える — to get over the peak / critical phase
峠 is a 国字 (character made in Japan). It pictures 山 plus the pair 上 and 下: the high point where the climb up meets the descent down — a mountain pass, and by extension a “critical peak” in a situation.
Think of 峠 as the top line of a road — the crest. You struggle up, reach the 頂, then start down. That’s why 峠 also means the “peak moment” of illness, work, or trouble.
Creates
峠越え — crossing a mountain pass; figuratively “getting past the peak.”