読
読 — Read
read
On’yomiドク (doku)
On’yomiトク (toku)
On’yomiトウ (tou)
Kun’yomiよむ (yomu)
Kun’yomi-よみ (yomi)
Stroke order (14 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 読
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 読者 | どくしゃ dokusha | reader |
| 読書 | どくしょ dokusho | reading (books) |
| 積ん読 | つんどく tsundoku | buying books and not reading them; stockpiling books; tsundoku |
| 読み | よみ yomi | reading; reading (of a kanji, esp. kun reading); reading (e.g. of a situation) |
| 読売 | よみうり yomiuri | Yomiuri (newspaper, etc. group); kawaraban (type of Edo-period single-page newspaper); yomiuri |
| 読む | よむ yomu | to read; to recite (e.g. a sutra); to chant |
Study notes
読 is a JLPT N5 kanji written with 14 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 2), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #618 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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