What is the Kanji for "Mountain"?

If you are wondering what is the Japanese Kanji for "Mountain", you've come to the right place!

The Japanese Kanji for "Mountain" is "山".

This kanji has 2 readings:

Its kunyomi reading is "Yama".

Its onyomi reading is "San".

kunyomi readings are based on the pronunciation of native Japanese words, and onyomi readings are based on the Chinese pronunciation of the character.

If you visually breakdown this kanji, you can see is made up of 2 parts:

The radical "凵" means "Open box" . And The radical "丨" means "Stick" .

Now, let's make sure you understand this kanji the other way around too.

What does the kanji "山" mean in japanese?

"山" means "Mountain".

Japanese School Students learn this kanji in First Grade, while foreigners may learn this kanji in preparation for the JLPT N5 exam.

Here are some words that use this kanji:

山: "Mountain". The Japanese noun '山 (やま)' means 'mountain'. It refers to a large natural elevation of the earth's surface rising abruptly from the surrounding level. Mountains can vary greatly in size, shape, and geological composition. They are an important part of Japan's diverse landscape. For example: I hiked up the mountain - (私は山を登りました). The snow-capped mountain is beautiful - (雪をかぶった山は美しい).

沢山: "A lot" or "Many". The Japanese adverb '沢山 (たくさん)' means 'a lot' or 'many'. It is used to indicate a large quantity or amount of something. This adverb can modify nouns, verbs, and adjectives. For example: I have a lot of books - (私は沢山の本があります).There are many people at the park - (公園には沢山の人がいます).

火山: "Volcano". The Japanese noun '火山 (かざん)' refers to a mountain or hill formed by the eruption of molten rock from the earth's surface. Volcanoes are often found in areas of high geological activity, such as the Pacific Ring of Fire. They can be extremely dangerous, expelling hot lava, ash, and gases when erupting. For example: Mount Fuji is the most famous volcano in Japan - (富士山は日本で最も有名な火山だ)

山脈: "Mountain range". The Japanese noun '山脈 (さんみゃく)' refers to a large, continuous system of mountains or mountain ranges. It is used to describe extensive, interconnected mountain systems, often spanning large areas of land. For example: The Himalayas are an impressive mountain range - (ヒマラヤ山脈はとてもすばらしい). The mountain range stretches for hundreds of kilometers - (その山脈は何百キロにも及んでいる).

登山: "Climbing". The verbal noun '登山(とざん)' means 'climbing'. It refers to the activity of climbing mountains or hills. It is commonly used to describe recreational hiking or mountaineering. For example: I enjoy mountain climbing - (私は登山が好きです). They went climbing in the mountains - (彼らは山で登山をしました).

山登り: "Climbing". The verbal noun '山登り (やまのぼり)' means 'climbing'. This term refers to the activity of hiking up and ascending a mountain or hill. It can be used to describe the action of climbing a particular mountain or as a general term for the recreational sport of mountain climbing. For example: I enjoy mountain climbing - (私は山登りを楽しむ). They went mountain climbing last weekend - (彼らは先週末に山登りに行きました).

To make really sure you learn this Kanji, I've prepared an interactive lesson for you. You are going to learn the readings and meanings of this kanji.

But first, you need to know a little bit about Hiragana and Katakana.

Hiragana and katakana are japanese syllabaries, this means that each character represents a syllable.

This are the characters you need to know for this lesson:

The hiragana "や" is read as "ya". The hiragana "ま" is read as "ma". The hiragana "さ" is read as "sa". And The hiragana "ん" is read as "n".

Heres a quick tutorial on how to use it. You'll be asked three type of questions: meaning, reading, and writing.

For meanings questions all you have to do is type the english meaning. If there is more than one meaning, you have to include them all in your answer separating them by commas (,).

For Reading questions you have to type the reading in romaji (roman letters, our normal alphabet) and it'll be automatically converted to hiragana if necessary. If there is more than one reading, you have to include them all in your answer separating them by commas (,).

For Writing questions some options will appear and all you have to do is select the correct ones.