竹
竹 — Bamboo
bamboo
On’yomiチク (chiku)
Kun’yomiたけ (take)
Stroke order (6 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 竹
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 竹 | たけ take | bamboo (any grass of subfamily Bambusoideae); middle (of a three-tier ranking system) |
| 爆竹 | ばくちく bakuchiku | firecracker |
| 竹林 | ちくりん chikurin | bamboo thicket; bamboo grove |
| 竹刀 | しない shinai | bamboo sword (for kendo); bamboo fencing stick; bamboo sword |
| 青竹 | あおだけ aodake | green bamboo |
| 松竹梅 | しょうちくばい shouchikubai | pine, bamboo and plum (an auspicious grouping); high, middle and low (ranking); top, middle and bottom |
Study notes
竹 is a JLPT N2 kanji written with 6 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 1), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #593 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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