血管

• Reading: けっかん
• Romaji: kekkan
• Kanji breakdown: 血 (ketsu) — blood; 管 (kan) — tube, pipe
• Pronunciation: /kek.ka.n/

Meaning

Blood vessel; vein; artery. Tubular structures that carry blood throughout the body.

A medical and anatomical noun. Includes arteries (動脈, doumyaku), veins (静脈, joumyaku), and capillaries (毛細血管, mousai kekkan). Common in health discussions: 血管が詰まる (a blood vessel gets blocked), 血管年齢 (vascular age). Also used figuratively for infrastructure networks.

Examples

1. 健康のために血管を強くする食事を心がけている。 A serious defect was found in the product.
2. 血管が細いので注射が難しいと言われた。 Cars with defects were recalled.
3. 高血圧は血管に負担をかける。 There might be a flaw in this system.

Usage Guide

Context: medicine, health, biology

Tone: neutral

Origin & History

Composed of 血 (blood) and 管 (tube, pipe). A straightforward compound describing tubes that carry blood — a medical term adopted from Chinese medicine.

Cultural Context

Era: Classical

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal