山
山 — Mountain
mountain
On’yomiサン (san)
On’yomiセン (sen)
Kun’yomiやま (yama)
Stroke order (3 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 山
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 山 | やま yama | mountain; hill; mine |
| 火山 | かざん kazan | volcano |
| 青山 | せいざん seizan | lush mountain; green mountain; grave |
| 山形 | やまがた yamagata | Yamagata (city, prefecture); mountain shape; chevron |
| 登山 | とざん tozan | mountain climbing; mountaineering; ascent of a mountain |
| 山岳 | さんがく sangaku | mountain chain; mountains |
Study notes
山 is a JLPT N5 kanji written with 3 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 1), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #131 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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