What is the Kanji for "North"?

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

The Japanese Kanji for "North" is "北".

This kanji has 2 readings:

Its kunyomi reading is "Kita".

Its onyomi reading is "Hoku".

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 3 parts:

The radical "匕" means "Spoon" . The radical "冫" means "Ice" . And The radical "丨" means "Stick" .

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

What does the kanji "北" mean in japanese?

"北" means "North".

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

Here are some words that use this kanji:

北: "North". The Japanese noun '北 (きた)' means 'north'. This word is used to refer to the cardinal direction of north. It can be used to describe the location of something, such as in the sentence: My house is in the north - (私の家は北にあります). '北' can also be used as part of compound words to indicate something related to the north, like '北極' (northern pole) or '北海道' (Hokkaido, the northernmost major island of Japan).

北風: "North wind". The Japanese noun '北風 (きたかぜ)' refers to the 'north wind' or the wind that blows from the north direction. This wind is often associated with cold, dry, and strong gusts of air. It is a common element in various traditional Japanese stories and poems. For example: The north wind was blowing fiercely - (北風がきつく吹いていた). The north wind howled through the trees - (北風が木々をうならせた).

北朝鮮: "North Korea". The proper noun '北朝鮮 (きたちょうせん)' refers to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea. It is a country located in East Asia that occupies the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. North Korea is known for its authoritarian government, nuclear weapons program, and tense relations with its southern neighbor South Korea as well as other countries. For example: The president of North Korea visited China - (北朝鮮の大統領が中国を訪問した).

北西: "Northwest". The Japanese noun '北西 (ほくせい)' means 'northwest'. It refers to the cardinal direction that is between north and west. This word can be used to describe a location or direction, such as: The house is located to the northwest - (家は北西にあります). The wind was blowing from the northwest - (風は北西から吹いていた).

北東: "Northeast". The noun '北東 (ほくとう)' refers to the northeastern direction. It is used to describe a location or direction that is in the northeast part of an area. For example: The house is located in the northeast part of the city - (その家は街の北東部にあります).

南北: "South and north". The Japanese word '南北 (なんぼく)' refers to the cardinal directions of south and north. It is a noun that can be used to indicate the orientation or location of something relative to these two directions. For example: The road runs in a south-north direction - (道は南北に通っている). The northern and southern parts of the country - (国の南北の部分).

北部: "North". The noun '北部 (ほくぶ)' refers to the northern part or region of a larger area. It can be used to describe the northern part of a country, state, city, or any other geographical location. For example: The northern part of Japan - (日本の北部), The northern region of the city - (街の北部)

北極: "North Pole". The Japanese word '北極 (ほっきょく)' refers to the northernmost point on Earth, also known as the North Pole. This geographical location is characterized by extremely cold temperatures, ice, and snow. The North Pole is an important point of reference for navigation and geographical study. For example: We traveled all the way to the North Pole - (私たちは北極まで行きました)。The expedition reached the North Pole - (探検隊は北極に到達しました).

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 "ほ" is read as "ho". The hiragana "く" is read as "ku". The hiragana "き" is read as "ki". And The hiragana "た" is read as "ta".

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.