天 — how to write the kanji for “heavens”

天 means “heavens”, “sky” and “imperial”; it is a JLPT N5 kanji, taught in first grade in Japan. It is also where hiragana て and katakana テ came from. Its parts sit stacked: 一 (“one”), stroke 1; 大 (“large”, its radical), strokes 2–4, each finished before the next. On its own it is the word ten, “sky; heaven”. Read ten, it forms 天皇 (“Emperor of Japan”), 天気 (“weather”) and 天皇陛下 (“His Majesty the Emperor”); the native reading ama- gives 天下り (“retiring high-ranking…”). Chinese reads it tiān, “day”, at HSK 1.

Strokes

4

JLPT

N5

Radical

大 (“large”)

On

テン

Kun

あま-, あまつ, あめ