北 — north
きた
北
north
Grade 2
Japanese school grade level in which this kanji is taught. Grade 1 is first year of elementary school.
5 strokes
direction
U+5317
Unicode hex codepoint — a unique identifier for this character in the Unicode standard.
Freq #153
Frequency rank among the ~2,500 most common kanji in Japanese newspapers. Lower number = more common.
Heisig #445
Index in James Heisig's "Remembering the Kanji" — a popular textbook that teaches kanji through mnemonics and stories.
Meanings
- north
word
きた kita Kun'yomi Kun'yomi (訓読み) — the native Japanese reading of this kanji. Used when the kanji appears alone or with okurigana (trailing hiragana).
ほく ・ぼく hoku On'yomi On'yomi (音読み) — the Sino-Japanese reading, derived from Chinese pronunciation. Most commonly used in compound words (jukugo).
ほっ ho Kun'yomi Kun'yomi (訓読み) — the native Japanese reading of this kanji. Used when the kanji appears alone or with okurigana (trailing hiragana).
Jukujikun Jukujikun Jukujikun (熟字訓) — special readings where the pronunciation applies to the whole compound word rather than individual kanji. The reading cannot be split per character.
へい ・ぺい hei Kun'yomi Kun'yomi (訓読み) — the native Japanese reading of this kanji. Used when the kanji appears alone or with okurigana (trailing hiragana).
Components
Composed of
Used as component in (1)
Compound ideograph (会意). Two people (匕 variants) sitting back to back — the direction one turns away from. North.