Kagi

Kagi is a native Japanese word meaning 'key' or 'lock' (the two are usually not clearly distinguished). In Chinese characters it is written . This is how it is written in the signs below:

Tōnan yobō no tame doa oyobi mado no kagi wa kanarazu o-kake-kudasai In order to prevent theft, please be sure to lock doors and windows.

Kagi no tori-tsuke / shūri sugu ukagaimasu For installation and repair of locks, we will visit immediately.

However, is not the simplest of characters to write, and there is a tendency to write hiragana or katakana:

	Kagi no kyūkyūsha (registered trademark) Key ambulance (for help if you are locked out, need a key urgently, etc.)
Kutsu shūri / ai-kagi Shoe repair, keys made.

A Google search in August 2003 revealed the following distribution:

Form	No. of occurrences
	573,000
	176,000
	50,600

The above figures are only a very rough guide as includes a very large number of occurrences in compound words (such as kenban keyboard) and thehiragana includes parts of words that contain the sequence kagi.