演
演 — Performance
performance, act, play, render, stage
On’yomiエン (en)
Kun’yomi—
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 演
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 演説 | えんぜつ enzetsu | speech; address |
| 公演 | こうえん kouen | public performance; exhibition in a foreign country |
| 講演 | こうえん kouen | lecture; address; speech |
| 演出 | えんしゅつ enshutsu | direction (of a play, film, etc.); production; organization (of an event) |
| 出演 | しゅつえん shutsuen | appearance (in a film, play, TV show, etc.); performance |
| 演奏 | えんそう ensou | musical performance |
Study notes
演 is a JLPT N3 kanji written with 14 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 5), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #267 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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