玉
玉 — Jewel
jewel, ball
On’yomiギョク (gyoku)
Kun’yomiたま (tama)
Kun’yomiたま- (tama)
Kun’yomi-だま (dama)
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 玉
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 玉 | たま tama | ball; sphere; globe |
| 目玉 | めだま medama | eyeball; special feature; centerpiece |
| 替え玉 | かえだま kaedama | stand-in; proxy; substitute |
| 玉虫色 | たまむしいろ tamamushiiro | iridescent colour; equivocal (reply, statement, etc.); ambiguous |
| お年玉 | おとしだま otoshidama | New Year's gift (usu. money given to a child by relatives and visitors) |
| シャボン玉 | シャボンだま shabondama | soap bubble |
Study notes
玉 is a JLPT N2 kanji written with 5 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 1), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #737 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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