照
照 — Illuminate
illuminate, shine, compare, bashful
On’yomiショウ (shou)
Kun’yomiてる (teru)
Kun’yomiてらす (terasu)
Kun’yomiてれる (tereru)
Stroke order (13 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 照
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 対照的 | たいしょうてき taishouteki | contrastive |
| 参照 | さんしょう sanshou | reference (e.g. to a dictionary, passage, footnotes); consultation; comparison |
| 照明 | しょうめい shoumei | illumination; lighting |
| 照準 | しょうじゅん shoujun | sight (e.g. of a gun); aim; alignment |
| 対照 | たいしょう taishou | contrast; antithesis; comparison |
| 照会 | しょうかい shoukai | inquiry; query; enquiry |
Study notes
照 is a JLPT N2 kanji written with 13 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 4), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #1004 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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