川 Kanji: Meaning, Readings and Stroke Order

川: river; stream. JLPT N5; 3 strokes.

Readings

On readings

セン

Kun readings

かわ

Romaji

sen, kawa

Study notes

川 means 'river'; the kanji is the drawing of flowing water.

On reading: セン appears in formal compounds such as 河川 (かせん, rivers, waterways) and 山川 (さんせん, mountains and rivers).

Kun reading: かわ, 'river': 川岸 (かわぎし, riverside), 川上 (かわかみ, upstream), 川下 (かわしも, downstream), 小川 (おがわ, creek). In compounds it often becomes がわ: 天の川 (あまのがわ, Milky Way); in river names it may remain かわ, as in 荒川 (あらかわ).

Remember: 川 appears in many surnames, such as 中川 (なかがわ) and 石川 (いしかわ). Also 河 is read かわ, but it mainly appears in compounds and proper names.

Example words

• 川辺 (かわべ) — riverbank
• 河川 (かせん) — rivers; waterways
• 川 (かわ) — river; stream

Example sentences

川で魚を釣りました。

kawa de sakana wo tsurimashita.

I caught fish in the river.

Stroke order

Follow the steps in order. Each new stroke is highlighted.

Stroke paths: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0. Sequential diagrams derived from the original paths.