Several parts combine into one character.

傘 is one of the most visually transparent characters in the entire CJK system — a pictograph of an open umbrella seen from the front. The traditional 傘 captures the structure: the top canopy (人 forming the apex), four ribs spreading outward (the 人 figures inside), and the central handle (the 十 vertical stroke). Mainland China simplified to 伞, reducing the four ribs to two strokes — and the simplified version is arguably even more visually iconic, looking exactly like a stick figure umbrella in profile. Few characters announce their meaning so directly to the eye.

Korean reading "san." 雨傘 (usan, "rain-umbrella"), 陽傘 (yangsan, "sun-umbrella" = parasol), 傘下 (sanha, "under the umbrella" = subsidiary / under the protection of — used corporately for a parent company's subsidiaries), 落下傘 (nakhasan, "falling-down umbrella" = parachute). The metaphorical use ("under the umbrella") is alive in modern Korean business language: (subordinate institution), (affiliated organization).

Mandarin sǎn, 3rd tone (simplified 伞). 雨伞 (yǔsǎn, umbrella), 阳伞 (yángsǎn, parasol), 降落伞 (jiàngluòsǎn, parachute), and the verb construction 打伞 (dǎ sǎn, literally "to hit / strike umbrella" = to put up an umbrella). Mandarin uses 打 (to hit / make / produce) for many actions where Korean and Japanese use other verbs — a small grammatical signature of Chinese phrasal logic.

Japanese on-reading サン (san) is rare — surfacing mainly in 落下傘 (rakkasan, parachute). Kun-reading かさ (kasa) dominates: 傘 (kasa, umbrella), 傘立て (kasatate, umbrella stand — found at every Japanese building entrance during rainy season), 番傘 (bangasa, traditional oil-paper umbrella). The most romantic compound: 相合い傘 (aiaigasa, "mutually-shared umbrella") — the act of two people sharing one umbrella in the rain, an iconic motif of Japanese drama, anime, and shōjo manga. The aiaigasa "couple-umbrella" symbol (a stylized umbrella with two names written under it) is to Japanese romance what the heart-with-arrow is to Western love graffiti.

Memory aid: an open umbrella seen head-on — canopy, ribs, handle. The simplified 伞 is even more pictographically obvious.