湖
湖 — Lake
lake
On’yomiコ (ko)
Kun’yomiみずうみ (mizuumi)
Stroke order (12 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 湖
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 湖 | みずうみ mizuumi | lake |
| 湖畔 | こはん kohan | lakeside; lakeshore; lakefront |
| 湖沼 | こしょう koshou | lake; marsh; wetland |
| 琵琶湖 | びわこ biwako | Lake Biwa; Biwako |
| 湖岸 | こがん kogan | lakeshore; lakeside |
| 湖水 | こすい kosui | lake; lake water |
Study notes
湖 is a JLPT N2 kanji written with 12 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 3), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #1344 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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