It's 1am in Tokyo. You're tired after a long day at work and a mandatory drinking session with your boss. You bow your final bow and race to the station to make the last train, but when you arrive the notice board reads "cancelled". You resign yourself to your fate and begin the long stumble home amongst the other salarymen—but hope is still alive in the reliable promise of the crispy, golden famichiki that awaits you in the convenience store below your apartment. When you arrive, there's a notice on the door - "closed for renevations". You fall to your knees, sad convenience store jingles sound in your head as hope dies.

Today let’s talk about 掲示(けいじ) (kei-ji) — notices and bulletins. We’ll uncover its meaning, break down its kanji, craft mnemonics to boost recognition, and explore practice sentences for reinforcement.

掲示 (けいじ) means 'displaying something written or drawn to an unspecified number of people.'

It is quite simply a notice or bulletin of some kind. Imagine a notice board 「掲示板(けいじばん)」(kei-ji-ban), what's on that board? Notes, bulletins, posts, notes etc! It doesn't have to be on a notice board or neccessarily paper. Think of a sign on the grass, an open/closed neon sign on a shop door, a "closed for the holidays" note in a restaruant window. Some notice displayed high enough to be visible.

It can be used both casually and formally, written and spoken and as both a noun and a suru-verb (transitive).

この掲示はなんと書いてあるのですか。

What does this sign say?

ポスターを掲示する。

Put up a poster.

To display or hang (掲) a notice in order to show or indicate (示) something is a 'notice' (掲示). While (示) is a JLPT N3 kanji, (掲) is not, so it may be more difficult to remember. However, if you break down the kanji into its radicals, such as (手) in its left form (扌), you can make the connection to think of "indicating by hand", as in putting up a note. Hopefully, this serves as a handy visual mnemonic to aid recognition of the word.

ボードに掲示を張(は)ってください。

Stick a notice on the board.

私たちのポスターを掲示することは可能(かのう)ですか？

Is it possible to display our posters?

公園(こうえん)の掲示に「芝生(しばふ)に入るべからず」と書いてあった。

The notice in the park said, 'Keep off the grass'

The kanji「示」is also used in another common JLPT N3 word:

• 示す (しめす, shimesu) - to show; demonstrate

Infact—google image search 掲示 and 掲示板 for a better visualisation.