方 — how to write the kanji for “direction”
方 means “direction”, “person” and “alternative”; it is a JLPT N4 kanji, taught in second grade in Japan. In newspapers it is one of the hundred most used kanji (46th). As one of the 214 traditional radicals it heads 25 kanji in KANJIDIC2. On its own it is the word kata, “direction; way”. Read hou, it forms 地方 (“district”), 方向 (“direction”) and 方法 (“method”); the native reading kata gives 見方 (“viewpoint”). Chinese reads it fāng, “square”, at HSK 3.
- Strokes
- 4
- JLPT
- N4
- Radical
- 方 (“direction”)
- On
- ホウ
- Kun
- -かた, -がた, かた
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- Vertical ㇑topdownwards
- Horizontal ㇐top leftrightwards
- Horizontal-turn-hook ㇆centerrightwards → downwards
- Left-falling stroke ㇒topdown and left
Japanese and Chinese
Japanese and Chinese draw all 4 strokes in the same order and direction, by our stroke-by-stroke comparison.
Under the radical 方
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Readings
- On (Chinese-derived)
- ホウ hou
- Kun (native)
- -かた -kata, -がた -gata, かた kata (rare)
- Meanings
- direction; person; alternative
- Read hou
- 地方 方向 方法 方針 双方 方式
- Read kata
- 見方
- School year
- second grade
- Newspaper rank
- 46th of 2,500 (KANJIDIC2)
- Korean hanja
- 방 bang
- Common words
- 94 in JMdict
Words with 方
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 一方 | いっぽう ippou | one; the other |
| 地方 | ちほう chihou | district; region |
| 方向 | ほうこう houkou | direction; orientation |
| 方法 | ほうほう houhou | method; way |
| 方針 | ほうしん houshin | policy; course |
| 見方 | みかた mikata | viewpoint; point of view |
| 北方 | ほっぽう hoppou | the north; northward |
| 双方 | そうほう souhou | both parties; both sides |
| 方式 | ほうしき houshiki | form; method |
| 行方 | ゆくえ yukue | (one's) whereabouts; destination |
Most common first (JMdict).
Practice sheet
Print at 100%. Several kanji: worksheet maker.
Keep going
Same parts:
JLPT N4, in list order: