章
章 — Badge
badge, chapter, composition, poem, design
On’yomiショウ (shou)
Kun’yomi—
Stroke order (11 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 章
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 章 | しょう shou | chapter; section; medal |
| 文章 | ぶんしょう bunshou | writing; composition; essay |
| 憲章 | けんしょう kenshou | charter |
| 勲章 | くんしょう kunshou | decoration; order; medal |
| 受章 | じゅしょう jushou | reception of a decoration; reception of an order |
| 文化勲章 | ぶんかくんしょう bunkakunshou | Order of Culture (Japan); Order of Cultural Merit (South Korea) |
Study notes
章 is a JLPT N2 kanji written with 11 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 3), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #990 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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