飯 — how to write the kanji for “meal”
飯 (“meal” and “boiled rice”) is a JLPT N4 kanji taught in fourth grade in Japan. Its parts sit side by side: 飠 (“food”), strokes 1–8; 反 (“anti-”), strokes 9–12, each finished before the next. Its 12 strokes make it one of the longest to write at N4. On its own it is the word meshi, “cooked rice; meal”. Read han, it forms 米飯 (“cooked rice”), 炊飯器 (“rice cooker”) and 赤飯 (“red rice (beans and mochi) for…”); the native reading meshi gives 握り飯 (“onigiri”) and 昼飯 (“lunch”). Mainland Chinese writes it 饭 (fàn, “cooked rice”), an HSK 1 character.
- Strokes
- 12
- JLPT
- N4
- Radical
- 食 (“eat”)
- On
- ハン
- Kun
- めし
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- Left-falling stroke ㇒top leftdown and left
- Dot ㇔top leftdown and right
- Vertical ㇑top leftdownwards
- Horizontal-turn ㇕leftrightwards → downwards
- Horizontal ㇐leftrightwards
- Horizontal ㇐leftrightwards
- Vertical-rising ㇙leftdownwards → up and right
- Dot ㇔bottom leftdown and right
- Horizontal ㇐toprightwards
- Left-falling stroke ㇒topdownwards
- Horizontal then left-falling ㇇centerrightwards → down and left
- Right-falling stroke ㇏centerdown and right
Japanese and Chinese
The two models differ in shape, so our comparison does not claim an order; compare the numbered frames yourself (12 strokes in Japanese, 12 strokes in Chinese).
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Readings
- On (Chinese-derived)
- ハン han
- Kun (native)
- めし meshi
- Meanings
- meal; boiled rice
- Read han
- 米飯 炊飯器 赤飯 夕飯 ご飯 夜ご飯
- Read meshi
- 握り飯 昼飯 朝飯
- School year
- fourth grade
- Newspaper rank
- 1046th of 2,500 (KANJIDIC2)
- Korean hanja
- 반 ban
- Common words
- 12 in JMdict
Words with 飯
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 米飯 | べいはん beihan | cooked rice |
| 炊飯器 | すいはんき suihanki | rice cooker |
| 赤飯 | せきはん sekihan | red rice (beans and mochi) for auspicious occasions |
| 握り飯 | にぎりめし nigirimeshi | onigiri; rice ball |
| 夕飯 | ゆうはん yuuhan | evening meal; dinner |
| 昼飯 | ひるめし hirumeshi | lunch; midday meal |
| ご飯 | ごはん gohan | cooked rice; meal |
| 朝飯 | あさめし asameshi | breakfast |
| 夜ご飯 | よるごはん yorugohan | dinner; evening meal |
| 昼ご飯 | ひるごはん hirugohan | lunch; midday meal |
Most common first (JMdict).
Practice sheet
Print at 100%. Several kanji: worksheet maker.
Keep going
Same parts:
JLPT N4, in list order: