居
居 — Reside
reside, to be, exist, live with
On’yomiキョ (kyo)
On’yomiコ (ko)
Kun’yomiいる (iru)
Kun’yomi-い (i)
Kun’yomiおる (oru)
Stroke order (8 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 居
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 芝居 | しばい shibai | play; drama |
| 居住 | きょじゅう kyojuu | residence; living (at, in); abode |
| 皇居 | こうきょ koukyo | Imperial Palace (of Japan); imperial residence |
| 入居 | にゅうきょ nyuukyo | moving in (to a house, apartment, etc.); taking up residence |
| 住居 | じゅうきょ juukyo | dwelling; house; residence |
| 居間 | いま ima | living room (Western style); sitting room |
Study notes
居 is a JLPT N3 kanji written with 8 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 5), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #836 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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