山 — how to write the kanji for “mountain”
山 (“mountain”) is a JLPT N5 kanji taught in first grade in Japan. In newspapers it is the 131st most used kanji. As one of the 214 traditional radicals it heads 203 kanji in KANJIDIC2. On its own it is the word yama, “mountain; hill”. Read san, it forms 火山 (“volcano”), 青山 (“lush mountain”) and 登山 (“mountain climbing”); the native reading yama gives 山形 (“Yamagata (city, prefecture)”) and 小山 (“hill”). Chinese reads it shān, “mountain”, at HSK 3.
- Strokes
- 3
- JLPT
- N5
- Radical
- 山 (“mountain”)
- On
- サン, セン
- Kun
- やま
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- Vertical ㇑topdownwards
- Vertical-curve ㇄leftdownwards → rightwards
- Vertical ㇑rightdownwards
Japanese and Chinese
Japanese and Chinese draw all 3 strokes in the same order and direction, by our stroke-by-stroke comparison.
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Readings
- On (Chinese-derived)
- サン san, セン sen (rare)
- Kun (native)
- やま yama
- Meanings
- mountain
- Read san
- 火山 青山 登山 山岳 大山 富士山
- Read yama
- 山形 小山 山手
- School year
- first grade
- Newspaper rank
- 131st of 2,500 (KANJIDIC2)
- Korean hanja
- 산 san
- Common words
- 48 in JMdict
Words with 山
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 火山 | かざん kazan | volcano |
| 青山 | せいざん seizan | lush mountain; green mountain |
| 山形 | やまがた yamagata | Yamagata (city, prefecture); mountain shape |
| 登山 | とざん tozan | mountain climbing; mountaineering |
| 山岳 | さんがく sangaku | mountain chain; mountains |
| 大山 | たいざん taizan | great mountain; large mountain |
| 小山 | こやま koyama | hill; knoll |
| 富士山 | ふじさん fujisan | Mount Fuji; Mt. Fuji |
| 山村 | さんそん sanson | mountain village |
| 山手 | やまて yamate | place near the mountains; hilly section of a city |
Most common first (JMdict).
Practice sheet
Print at 100%. Several kanji: worksheet maker.
Keep going
JLPT N5, in list order: