皮
皮 — Pelt
pelt, skin, hide, leather
On’yomiヒ (hi)
Kun’yomiかわ (kawa)
Stroke order (5 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 皮
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 皮 | かわ kawa | skin; hide; pelt |
| 皮切り | かわきり kawakiri | beginning; start |
| 皮膚 | ひふ hifu | skin |
| 脱皮 | だっぴ dappi | ecdysis; shedding (of skin); sloughing |
| 皮肉 | ひにく hiniku | irony; sarcasm; cynicism |
| 毛皮 | けがわ kegawa | fur; skin; pelt |
Study notes
皮 is a JLPT N2 kanji written with 5 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 3), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #1092 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).
🔊 Tap the big kanji, any reading or any example word to hear it.