岩
岩 — Boulder
boulder, rock, cliff
On’yomiガン (gan)
Kun’yomiいわ (iwa)
Stroke order (8 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 岩
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 岩 | いわ iwa | rock; boulder; crag |
| 溶岩 | ようがん yougan | lava |
| 岩間 | いわま iwama | among rocks |
| 一枚岩 | いちまいいわ ichimaiiwa | monolith; large slab of rock; unity (of a group, organization, etc.) |
| 岩山 | いわやま iwayama | rocky mountain |
| 岩石 | がんせき ganseki | rock |
Study notes
岩 is a JLPT N2 kanji written with 8 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 2), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #787 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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