JLPT N1 · 9 strokes
Kanji 柳: "willow"
The kanji 柳 means "willow". It is written with 9 strokes and belongs to JLPT level N1, read リュウ in on'yomi and やなぎ in kun'yomi.
Stroke order
Strokes are written in the order of the numbers. The order is not decorative: it is what gives the character its balance, and it is also how handwriting search works in Japanese dictionaries.
Readings
On'yomi (Sino-Japanese reading)
リュウ
Kun'yomi (native Japanese reading)
やなぎ
In a kun'yomi reading, the dot separates the kanji from its okurigana: かた.る is read かたる and written 語る. A hyphen marks a bound position, like -び in 日.
At a glance
| Meaning | willow |
|---|---|
| Strokes | 9 |
| JLPT level | N1 |
| Taught in Japan | secondary school |
| Frequency rank | 1169 of 2,501 |
Common words with 柳
The most frequent words using this kanji, most common first, with furigana readings. Click one to open it in the reader.
- 柳willow (any tree of genus Salix) · weeping willow (Salix babylonica)
- 柳Chinese "Willow" constellation (one of the 28 mansions)
- 柳眉beautiful eyebrows; lovely eyebrows
- 青柳green willow (i.e. one that has budded) · meat of the trough shell (Mactra chinensis)
- 川柳senryū; comic haiku; humorous seventeen-mora poem
- 柳に風handling things without making waves; taking in one's stride
- 花柳界red-light district; pleasure quarters; world of the geisha; demimonde
- 柳葉魚shishamo smelt (Spirinchus lanceolatus)
- 花柳red-light district
- 雪柳Thunberg spirea (Spiraea thunbergii)
- 柳腰slim waist; slender figure; willowy figure · waist of a willow tree
- 柳行李wicker trunk
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