星
星 — Star
star, spot, dot, mark
On’yomiセイ (sei)
On’yomiショウ (shou)
Kun’yomiほし (hoshi)
Kun’yomi-ぼし (boshi)
Stroke order (9 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 星
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 衛星 | えいせい eisei | (natural) satellite; moon; (artificial) satellite |
| 星 | ほし hoshi | star (usu. excluding the Sun); planet (usu. excluding Earth); heavenly body |
| 通信衛星 | つうしんえいせい tsuushineisei | communication satellite; Broadcast Satellite; BS |
| 木星 | もくせい mokusei | Jupiter (planet) |
| 惑星 | わくせい wakusei | planet; dark horse; surprise contender |
| 白星 | しろぼし shiroboshi | white circle; white star; victory mark |
Study notes
星 is a JLPT N2 kanji written with 9 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 2), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #844 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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