生
生 — Life
life, genuine, birth
On’yomiセイ (sei)
On’yomiショウ (shou)
Kun’yomiいきる (ikiru)
Kun’yomiいかす (ikasu)
Kun’yomiいける (ikeru)
Kun’yomiうまれる (umareru)
Kun’yomiうまれる (umareru)
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 生
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 学生 | がくせい gakusei | student (esp. a university student) |
| 生活 | せいかつ seikatsu | life; living; livelihood |
| 生産 | せいさん seisan | production; manufacture |
| 厚生省 | こうせいしょう kouseishou | (former) Ministry of Health and Welfare |
| 新生 | しんせい shinsei | rebirth; new birth; nascent |
| 人生 | じんせい jinsei | (one's) life |
Study notes
生 is a JLPT N5 kanji written with 5 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 1), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #29 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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