Wood & bamboo
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.
chair
wheelchair
swivel chair
block style (kaisho)
block-style typeface
semi-cursive and block styles
dried persimmon
astringent persimmon
sweet persimmon
extraordinary, exceptional
bridge girder
off by an order of magnitude
cerebral infarction, stroke
infarction, blockage
outline, synopsis
iron fence
castle stockade
over the fence
intervertebral disk
vertebra, spine
shiitake mushroom
bedside
railway sleeper, tie
lap pillow
letter paper, stationery
prescription
sticky note, tag
disposable chopsticks
chopstick box
cooking chopsticks
Practice
Test yourself on this lesson's kanji.