Kanji Library
KanjiJLPT N1 › 笛

笛 — Flute

JLPT N111 strokesGrade 3#1928 most used
flute, clarinet, pipe, whistle, bagpipe, piccolo
On’yomiテキ (teki)
Kun’yomiふえ (fue)

Stroke order (11 strokes)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

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

Common words using 笛

WordReadingMeaning
ふえ
fue
flute; fife; pipe
汽笛きてき
kiteki
steam whistle
口笛くちぶえ
kuchibue
whistle (sound made with the lips)
警笛けいてき
keiteki
horn; alarm; whistle
草笛くさぶえ
kusabue
reed pipe
笛吹きふえふき
fuefuki
flute player; flutist; flautist

Study notes

笛 is a JLPT N1 kanji written with 11 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 3), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #1928 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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