松
松 — Pine tree
pine tree
On’yomiショウ (shou)
Kun’yomiまつ (matsu)
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 松
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 松 | まつ matsu | pine tree (Pinus spp.); highest (of a three-tier ranking system) |
| 赤松 | あかまつ akamatsu | Japanese red pine (Pinus densiflora); Japanese umbrella pine; tanyosho pine |
| 浜松 | はままつ hamamatsu | Hamamatsu (city) |
| 松林 | まつばやし matsubayashi | pine forest |
| 松明 | たいまつ taimatsu | torch (made of pine, bamboo, reed, etc.); flambeau; torchlight |
| 松風 | まつかぜ matsukaze | (sound of) wind blowing through pine trees; (sound of) steam whistling in a kettle (at a tea ceremony); matsukaze |
Study notes
松 is a JLPT N1 kanji written with 8 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 4), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #471 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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