Writing, arts & practice
Tap an example word to hear it pronounced.
On'yomi & Kun'yomi
On'yomi (音読み) is the reading borrowed from Chinese, usually used in compound words, e.g. 三月 (さんがつ, March).
Kun'yomi (訓読み) is the native Japanese reading, used when the kanji stands alone or takes kana endings, e.g. 三つ (みっつ, three items).
By convention the readings list writes on'yomi in katakana (シュ) and kun'yomi in hiragana (さけ). Example words show furigana in hiragana, so the same on'yomi can look like シュ in the list but しゅ in a word.
What the component colors mean
Blue - the main radical the kanji is filed under in dictionaries.
Green - a component that hints at the meaning.
Orange - a component that hints at the reading (sound).
Grey - another building block, with no clear meaning or sound role.
pencil case
note-taking, writing
pencil
kanji, Chinese character
classical Chinese writing
Chinese herbal medicine
to copy, to transcribe
photograph
to copy out (by hand)
fairy tale
childlike heart
schoolchild
sound of a flute
whistling (with the mouth)
steam whistle
beautiful
a beauty, beautiful woman
fine art
practice, drill
training
to knead, to refine
queue, procession
train
equal, identical
equality
first class, first prize
reason
freedom
via, by way of
Practice
Test yourself on this lesson's kanji.