願
願 — Petition
petition, request, vow, wish, hope
On’yomiガン (gan)
Kun’yomiねがう (negau)
Kun’yomi-ねがい (negai)
Stroke order (19 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 願
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 願い | ねがい negai | desire; wish; hope |
| 願 | がん gan | prayer; wish; vow |
| 志願 | しがん shigan | aspiration; volunteering; desire |
| 念願 | ねんがん nengan | one's heart's desire; one's dearest wish |
| 悲願 | ひがん higan | one's dearest wish; Buddha's vow to save humanity |
| 本願 | ほんがん hongan | long-cherished desire; Amida Buddha's original vow |
Study notes
願 is a JLPT N3 kanji written with 19 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 4), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #894 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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