破
破 — Rend
rend, rip, tear, break, destroy, defeat
On’yomiハ (ha)
Kun’yomiやぶる (yaburu)
Kun’yomiやぶれる (yabureru)
Kun’yomiわれる (wareru)
Stroke order (10 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 破
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 破壊 | はかい hakai | destruction; disruption; (application) crash |
| 突破 | とっぱ toppa | breaking through; breakthrough; penetration |
| 破産 | はさん hasan | bankruptcy; insolvency |
| 爆破 | ばくは bakuha | destructive blast; blowing up; explosion |
| 破片 | はへん hahen | fragment; broken piece; splinter |
| 破る | やぶる yaburu | to tear; to rip; to break |
Study notes
破 is a JLPT N3 kanji written with 10 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 5), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #590 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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