働
働 — Work
work, (kokuji)
On’yomiドウ (dou)
Kun’yomiはたらく (hataraku)
Stroke order (13 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 働
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 労働 | ろうどう roudou | labor; labour; work |
| 労働者 | ろうどうしゃ roudousha | worker; (manual) laborer; labourer |
| 労働省 | ろうどうしょう roudoushou | Ministry of Labour (now Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare) |
| 労働党 | ろうどうとう roudoutou | Labour Party; Labor Party |
| 働き | はたらき hataraki | work; labor; labour |
| 労働組合 | ろうどうくみあい roudoukumiai | labor union; labour union; trade union |
Study notes
働 is a JLPT N3 kanji written with 13 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 4), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #417 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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