穴
穴 — Hole
hole, aperture, slit, cave, den
On’yomiケツ (ketsu)
Kun’yomiあな (ana)
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 穴
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 穴 | あな ana | hole; opening; orifice |
| 穴埋め | あなうめ anaume | filling (up) a hole; filling in (for a gap, vacancy, etc.); stopgap |
| 落とし穴 | おとしあな otoshiana | pitfall; trap; pit |
| 風穴 | かざあな kazaana | air hole; windhole; air vent |
| 墓穴 | ぼけつ boketsu | grave (pit) |
| 横穴 | よこあな yokoana | cave; tunnel; tunnel tomb (Kofun period) |
Study notes
穴 is a JLPT N1 kanji written with 5 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 6), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #1366 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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