弁
弁 — Valve
valve, petal, braid, speech, dialect, discrimination
On’yomiベン (ben)
On’yomiヘン (hen)
Kun’yomiかんむり (kanmuri)
Kun’yomiわきまえる (wakimaeru)
Kun’yomiわける (wakeru)
Kun’yomiはなびら (hanabira)
Kun’yomiあらそう (arasou)
Stroke order (5 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 弁
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 弁護士 | べんごし bengoshi | lawyer; attorney |
| 答弁 | とうべん touben | response; reply; answer |
| 合弁 | ごうべん gouben | joint management; pool; gamopetalous |
| 弁護 | べんご bengo | defense; defence; pleading |
| 弁当 | べんとう bentou | bento; Japanese box lunch |
| 弁務官 | べんむかん benmukan | commissioner |
Study notes
弁 is a JLPT N1 kanji written with 5 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 5), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #619 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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