筆
筆 — Writing brush
writing brush, writing, painting brush, handwriting
On’yomiヒツ (hitsu)
Kun’yomiふで (fude)
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 筆
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 筆頭 | ひっとう hittou | brush tip; first on a list; head |
| 執筆 | しっぴつ shippitsu | writing; authoring |
| 筆 | ふで fude | writing brush; paintbrush; pen |
| 筆者 | ひっしゃ hissha | writer; author |
| 鉛筆 | えんぴつ enpitsu | (wooden) pencil |
| 随筆 | ずいひつ zuihitsu | essays; miscellaneous writings; literary jottings |
Study notes
筆 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 #1132 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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