Kanji Library
KanjiJLPT N1 › 牧

牧 — Breed

JLPT N18 strokesGrade 4#1360 most used
breed, care for, shepherd, feed, pasture
On’yomiボク (boku)
Kun’yomiまき (maki)

Stroke order (8 strokes)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Watch the strokes draw themselves in the correct order — numbers mark where each stroke starts. Diagram from KanjiVG (CC BY-SA).

Common words using 牧

WordReadingMeaning
牧場ぼくじょう
bokujou
farm (livestock); stock farm; ranch
牧師ぼくし
bokushi
pastor; minister; clergyman
牧野ぼくや
bokuya
pasture land; ranch
遊牧ゆうぼく
yuuboku
nomadism
牧草ぼくそう
bokusou
pasture; grass
牧畜ぼくちく
bokuchiku
stock-farming; livestock farming; cattle breeding

Study notes

牧 is a JLPT N1 kanji written with 8 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 4), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #1360 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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