Kanji 国 — "Country"
Here is what 国 means, how it is read, what it is built from, and a story that makes "Country" stick.
How it is read
こく
the reading borrowed from Chinese — usually appears in compound words
くに
the native Japanese reading — usually appears when the kanji stands alone
How to remember it
Kanji are not random strokes. Learn the parts and the whole becomes easy. Put the parts together into one picture. The stranger it is, the harder it is to forget.
Someone stole a Jewel from this Country and was locked inside an Enclosure forever!
- 玉 Jewel
What's that Drop on the King's foot? Look closely — it's a Jewel!
- 囗 Enclosure
A square frame like a cage, enclosure surrounding various things
Words that use 国
12 of 28 words in the app that contain this kanji — the most common ones first.
- 国 くに country
- 王国 おうこく kingdom, monarchy, realm
- 全国 ぜんこく the entire nation, country-wide, nation-wide
- 国民 こくみん national, people, citizen
- 中国 ちゅうごく China
- 外国人 がいこくじん foreigner
- 天国 てんごく paradise, heaven, Kingdom of Heaven
- 国家 こっか state, country, nation
- 外国 がいこく foreign country
- 国際 こくさい international
- 国立 こくりつ national
- 国王 こくおう king
Want 国 to still be there next month?
Reading it once is not remembering it. The app brings each kanji back right before you would have forgotten it.
