幼
幼 — Infancy
infancy, childhood
On’yomiヨウ (you)
Kun’yomiおさない (osanai)
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 幼
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 幼児 | ようじ youji | young child; toddler; child over 1 but not yet of school age |
| 幼稚園 | ようちえん youchien | kindergarten (in Japan, non-compulsory education from age 3 until primary school); preschool |
| 乳幼児 | にゅうようじ nyuuyouji | babies and preschool children |
| 幼い | おさない osanai | very young; little; childish |
| 幼なじみ | おさななじみ osananajimi | childhood friend; friend from infancy; old playmate |
| 幼少 | ようしょう youshou | infancy; childhood; tender age |
Study notes
幼 is a JLPT N2 kanji written with 5 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 6), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #1227 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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