八
八 — Eight
eight
On’yomiハチ (hachi)
On’yomiハツ (hatsu)
Kun’yomiや (ya)
Kun’yomiやつ (yatsu)
Kun’yomiやっつ (yattsu)
Kun’yomiよう (you)
Stroke order (2 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 八
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 十八 | じゅうはち juuhachi | eighteen; 18 |
| 八月 | はちがつ hachigatsu | August; eighth month of the lunar calendar |
| 八 | はち hachi | eight; 8 |
| 八十 | はちじゅう hachijuu | eighty; 80 |
| 三十八度線 | さんじゅうはちどせん sanjuuhachidosen | 38th parallel (that demarcates North Korea and South Korea) |
| 八幡 | はちまん hachiman | Hachiman (god of war); Hachiman shrine; certainly |
Study notes
八 is a JLPT N5 kanji written with 2 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 1), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #92 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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