航
航 — Navigate
navigate, sail, cruise, fly
On’yomiコウ (kou)
Kun’yomi—
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 航
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 航空 | こうくう koukuu | aviation; flying |
| 航空機 | こうくうき koukuuki | aircraft |
| 運航 | うんこう unkou | operation (of a ship or aircraft route); service; navigation |
| 航海 | こうかい koukai | (sea) voyage; navigation; sailing |
| 渡航 | とこう tokou | voyage; passage; travelling |
| 難航 | なんこう nankou | difficult voyage; stormy passage; hard flight |
Study notes
航 is a JLPT N2 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 #665 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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