係
係 — Person in charge
person in charge, connection, duty, concern oneself
On’yomiケイ (kei)
Kun’yomiかかる (kakaru)
Kun’yomiかかり (kakari)
Kun’yomi-がかり (gakari)
Kun’yomiかかわる (kakawaru)
Stroke order (9 strokes)
Watch the strokes draw themselves in the correct order — numbers mark where each stroke starts. Diagram from KanjiVG (CC BY-SA).
Common words using 係
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 関係 | かんけい kankei | relation; relationship; connection |
| 関係者 | かんけいしゃ kankeisha | person concerned; people involved (in an event); those concerned |
| 人間関係 | にんげんかんけい ningenkankei | human relations; personal relationships |
| 係 | かかり kakari | charge; duty; person in charge |
| 係長 | かかりちょう kakarichou | subsection head; assistant manager; chief clerk |
| 無関係 | むかんけい mukankei | unrelated |
Study notes
係 is a JLPT N3 kanji written with 9 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 3), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #232 of the 2,500 most frequent kanji in newspapers. On’yomi (音読み) are Chinese-derived readings mostly used in compound words; kun’yomi (訓読み) are native Japanese readings, with any highlighted part written in hiragana after the kanji (okurigana).
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