招
招 — Beckon
beckon, invite, summon, engage
On’yomiショウ (shou)
Kun’yomiまねく (maneku)
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 招
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 招待 | しょうたい shoutai | invitation |
| 招致 | しょうち shouchi | invitation; summons; bidding (e.g. to host the Olympics) |
| 招き | まねき maneki | invitation |
| 招集 | しょうしゅう shoushuu | call; summons; convening |
| 招請 | しょうせい shousei | invitation |
| 招く | まねく maneku | to invite; to ask; to beckon |
Study notes
招 is a JLPT N3 kanji written with 8 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 5), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #840 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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