灰
灰 — Ashes
ashes, puckery juice, cremate
On’yomiカイ (kai)
Kun’yomiはい (hai)
Stroke order (6 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 灰
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 灰色 | はいいろ haiiro | grey; gray; ashen |
| 火山灰 | かざんばい kazanbai | volcanic ash |
| 灰 | はい hai | ash; ashes |
| 灰皿 | はいざら haizara | ashtray |
| 石灰 | せっかい sekkai | lime; quicklime; caustic lime |
| 石灰岩 | せっかいがん sekkaigan | limestone |
Study notes
灰 is a JLPT N2 kanji written with 6 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 6), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #1717 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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