后
后 — Empress
empress, queen, after, behind, back, later
On’yomiコウ (kou)
On’yomiゴ (go)
Kun’yomiきさき (kisaki)
Stroke order (6 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 后
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 皇后 | こうごう kougou | empress (consort) |
| 皇太后 | こうたいごう koutaigou | Empress Dowager; Queen Mother |
| 后 | きさき kisaki | empress (consort); queen (consort) |
Study notes
后 is a JLPT N1 kanji written with 6 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 6), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #1583 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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