Japanese for five. As represented by the kanji character:
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It was once represented by five parallel lines, representing five extended fingers. However, from ancient times the above pictograph of a thread-reel was used as a substitute, both for its sound and the fact that it replaced the "five fingers when winding yarn" phrase when written out.
Can be read as go or itsu- as in gogatsu (May), gonin (five people), or itsuka (fifth day).