Kanji Library
Kanji VocabularyJLPT N3 › 神

神 — Gods

JLPT N39 strokesGrade 3#347 most used
gods, mind, soul
On’yomiシン (shin)
On’yomiジン (jin)
Kun’yomiかみ (kami)
Kun’yomiかん- (kan)
Kun’yomiこう- (kou)

Stroke order (9 strokes)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Watch the strokes draw themselves in the correct order — numbers mark where each stroke starts. Diagram from KanjiVG (CC BY-SA).

Common words using 神

WordReadingMeaning
精神せいしん
seishin
mind; spirit; soul
阪神はんしん
hanshin
Osaka-Kobe; Hanshin (company name: railway, dept. store, baseball team, etc.)
かみ
kami
god; deity; divinity
神経しんけい
shinkei
nerve; nerves; sensitivity
神社じんじゃ
jinja
Shinto shrine
精神的せいしんてき
seishinteki
mental; spiritual; emotional

Study notes

神 is a JLPT N3 kanji written with 9 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 3), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #347 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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