害
害 — Harm
harm, injury
On’yomiガイ (gai)
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 害
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 障害 | しょうがい shougai | obstacle; impediment; hindrance |
| 被害 | ひがい higai | (suffering) damage; injury; harm |
| 災害 | さいがい saigai | calamity; disaster; misfortune |
| 損害 | そんがい songai | damage; injury; loss |
| 障害者 | しょうがいしゃ shougaisha | disabled person; person with a (physical or mental) disability |
| 公害 | こうがい kougai | pollution; public nuisance; contamination |
Study notes
害 is a JLPT N3 kanji written with 10 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 4), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #358 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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