筋
筋 — Muscle
muscle, sinew, tendon, fiber, plot, plan
On’yomiキン (kin)
Kun’yomiすじ (suji)
Stroke order (12 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 筋
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 筋 | すじ suji | muscle; tendon; sinew |
| 筋肉 | きんにく kinniku | muscle |
| 大筋 | おおすじ oosuji | outline; summary; gist |
| 道筋 | みちすじ michisuji | path; route; itinerary |
| 消息筋 | しょうそくすじ shousokusuji | informed circles |
| 心筋 | しんきん shinkin | cardiac muscle; heart muscle; myocardium |
Study notes
筋 is a JLPT N1 kanji written with 12 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 6), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #744 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).
🔊 Tap the big kanji, any reading or any example word to hear it.