銀
銀 — Silver
silver
On’yomiギン (gin)
Kun’yomiしろがね (shirogane)
Stroke order (14 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 銀
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 銀行 | ぎんこう ginkou | bank; banking institution |
| 銀 | ぎん gin | silver (Ag); silver (color); silver (medal, prize, etc.) |
| 銀座 | ぎんざ ginza | Ginza (district in Tokyo); busy shopping district; bustling location |
| 日本銀行 | にっぽんぎんこう nipponginkou | Bank of Japan; BOJ |
| 世界銀行 | せかいぎんこう sekaiginkou | World Bank |
| 水銀 | すいぎん suigin | mercury (Hg) |
Study notes
銀 is a JLPT N4 kanji written with 14 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 3), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #395 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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