要
要 — Need
need, main point, essence, pivot, key to
On’yomiヨウ (you)
Kun’yomiいる (iru)
Kun’yomiかなめ (kaname)
Stroke order (9 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 要
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 重要 | じゅうよう juuyou | important; essential; significant |
| 必要 | ひつよう hitsuyou | necessary; needed; essential |
| 要求 | ようきゅう youkyuu | demand; firm request; requisition |
| 主要 | しゅよう shuyou | chief; main; principal |
| 需要 | じゅよう juyou | demand; need; demand |
| 要請 | ようせい yousei | appeal; call for something; request |
Study notes
要 is a JLPT N3 kanji written with 9 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 4), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #106 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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