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Rice

On’yomiべい・まい・めえとる
Kun’yomiこめ・よね
MeaningsRice, Usa, Metre
JLPT N3 6 strokes #61 most common Grade 2 Radical rice
書き順 · Stroke order

How to write 米

Stroke order is not decoration — it determines how the character looks handwritten and how dictionaries index it.

6 strokes
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部首 · Radical

The radical of 米

Radical 119 of 214
Rice

The radical is the part a paper dictionary files a kanji under, and it usually hints at meaning. 米 is filed under (rice) — radical number 119 of the 214 in the Kangxi system.

Other kanji built on 米

練習 · Practice

Drill 米 right now

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Rice べい・まい・めえとる こめ・よね
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熟語 · In real words

Words that use 米

Kanji are almost never met alone. These are the most common words built from this character, ordered by how often they actually appear in Japanese.

日米 にちべい Japan and the United States; Japanese-American
米国 べいこく (United States of) America; USA; US
全米 ぜんべい all of the United States; the whole of the USA; all of North and South America
対米 たいべい relating to the USA; toward America; with America
訪米 ほうべい visit to the United States
南米 なんべい South America
中南米 ちゅうなんべい Central and South America
米価 べいか rice price
反米 はんべい anti-American
米穀 べいこく rice
名乗り · Name readings

How 米 is read in names

Japanese names use readings that appear nowhere else in the language. These are 米's — the reason personal and place names are so hard to read even for native speakers.

まべよなよのよま
同音 · Sound-alikes

Kanji that sound like 米

Japanese has far more kanji than syllables, so one reading is shared by many characters. These are the ones you will confuse with 米 — learn them together, not separately.

地名 · In place names

Japanese towns written with 米

Place names are where kanji readings get strange — and where you meet this character in the wild.

画数 · 6 strokes

Other 6-stroke kanji

Useful when looking a character up by stroke count — and a common source of visual mix-ups.

頻度 · Frequency

Next in the frequency list

米 is the 61st most common kanji in written Japanese. Learning in frequency order is the fastest route to reading real text.

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質問 · Questions

About the kanji 米

What does the kanji 米 mean?

米 means Rice, Usa, Metre. It is the 61st most common kanji in written Japanese.

How do you read the kanji 米?

米 is read on'yomi (Chinese-derived) べい、まい、めえとる; kun'yomi (native Japanese) こめ、よね.

How many strokes does 米 have?

米 is written with 6 strokes. The animated diagram on this page shows the correct order.

What level is the kanji 米?

It appears at JLPT level N3, and Japanese schoolchildren learn it in grade 2.

What is the radical of 米?

The radical of 米 is 米 (rice), radical number 119 of the 214 Kangxi radicals. The radical is the component a dictionary files the character under, and it usually points at the character's meaning.

What words use the kanji 米?

Common words written with 米 include 日米 (にちべい, Japan and the United States; Japanese-American); 米国 (べいこく, (United States of) America; USA; US); 全米 (ぜんべい, all of the United States; the whole of the USA; all of North and South America).

Which kanji sound the same as 米?

米 shares a reading with 毎 (まい), 枚 (まい), 埋 (まい), 妹 (まい), 皿 (べい), among others. Same-sounding kanji are one of the most common sources of confusion in Japanese.

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