北
北 — North
north
On’yomiホク (hoku)
Kun’yomiきた (kita)
Stroke order (5 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 北
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 北 | きた kita | north; the North; northern territories |
| 北海道 | ほっかいどう hokkaidou | Hokkaido (island, prefectural-level administrative unit) |
| 北京 | ペキン pekin | Beijing (China); Peking |
| 北朝鮮 | きたちょうせん kitachousen | North Korea |
| 東北 | とうほく touhoku | north-east; Tōhoku (northernmost six prefectures of Honshu); Tohoku |
| 南北 | なんぼく nanboku | north and south; north to south; South Korea and North Korea |
Study notes
北 is a JLPT N5 kanji written with 5 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 2), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #153 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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