Kanji 方 — "Direction"
Here is what 方 means, how it is read, what it is built from, and a story that makes "Direction" stick.
Also means: Way
How it is read
ほう
the reading borrowed from Chinese — usually appears in compound words
かた, -かた, -がた
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.
Ten Thousand Drops of blood on the ground — they reveal the Direction the criminal ran!
- ⼂ Drop
This small stroke component is a Drop of water. See how it's just a single drop?
- 万 Ten Thousand
One gift Wrapped in gold — it must be worth Ten Thousand yen!
Words that use 方
12 of 32 words in the app that contain this kanji — the most common ones first.
- 方 かた / ほう person (polite), way
- 方法 ほうほう method, means, technique
- 言い方 いいかた way of speaking, expression, phrasing
- 味方 みかた ally, supporter
- 一方 いっぽう on the other hand, meanwhile
- 行方 ゆくえ one's whereabouts
- 仕方 しかた way (of doing something)
- 方向 ほうこう direction, course, way
- 方々 かたがた / ほうぼう persons, people (polite)
- 夕方 ゆうがた evening
- 両方 りょうほう both sides, both parties
- 仕方がない しかたがない it can't be helped, it's inevitable
Want 方 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.
