記念

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 記念(きねん) means marking a significant event so that it will be remembered, or the occasion being marked.
• Basic usage: It is used for activities such as taking graduation photos or holding an anniversary event.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Occasion and object
  • 卒業の記念に means to commemorate graduation.
  • In 開店十周年を記念して, を marks the shop's tenth anniversary as the event being commemorated.
• Commemoration and memory
  • 記憶(きおく) concerns memory or what is remembered; 記念 focuses on an act that marks an event as significant.