海
海 — Sea
sea, ocean
On’yomiカイ (kai)
Kun’yomiうみ (umi)
Stroke order (9 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 海
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 海外 | かいがい kaigai | foreign; abroad; overseas |
| 北海道 | ほっかいどう hokkaidou | Hokkaido (island, prefectural-level administrative unit) |
| 海 | うみ umi | sea; ocean; waters |
| 東海 | とうかい toukai | Tōkai region (of Honshu; incl. Aichi, Shizuoka, Mie and southern Gifu prefectures); eastern sea; Tōkaidō (Edo-period Edo-Kyoto highway) |
| 海軍 | かいぐん kaigun | navy; naval force |
| 海上 | かいじょう kaijou | (on the) sea; surface of the sea |
Study notes
海 is a JLPT N4 kanji written with 9 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 2), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #200 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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