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Staff

On’yomiじょう
Kun’yomiつえ
MeaningsStaff, Cane
7 strokes #2325 most common Name kanji Radical tree
書き順 · Stroke order

How to write 杖

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

7 strokes
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分解 · What it is made of

The parts of 杖

Almost every kanji is built from a small set of reusable parts. Learn the parts once and you stop memorising thousands of unrelated shapes.

部首 · Radical

The radical of 杖

Radical 75 of 214
Tree

The radical is the part a paper dictionary files a kanji under, and it usually hints at meaning. 杖 is filed under (tree) — radical number 75 of the 214 in the Kangxi system.

Other kanji built on 木

練習 · Practice

Drill 杖 right now

Three quick games built from this character's real data. Your streak is kept in this browser.

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Staff じょう つえ
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熟語 · In real words

Words that use 杖

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.

杖道 ジョードー jōdō
側杖 ソバズエ blow received by a bystander, getting dragged in to someone else's fight
杖術 ジョージュツ jōjutsu
兵杖 ヒョージョー arms, armed soldier
虎杖 イタドリ Japanese knotweed (Reynoutria japonica), flowering bamboo
傍杖 ソバズエ blow received by a bystander, getting dragged in to someone else's fight
杖鼓 チャンゴ chanko; sitting, sitting down
錫杖 シャクジョー khakkhara (staff topped with metal rings traditionally carried by monks), pewter staff
頬杖 ツラズエ resting one's chin in one's hands; brace (in construction), angle brace
頰杖 ホーズエ resting one's chin in one's hands; brace (in construction), angle brace
同音 · Sound-alikes

Kanji that sound like 杖

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

地名 · In place names

Japanese towns written with 杖

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

画数 · 7 strokes

Other 7-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

杖 is the 2325th 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 杖

What does the kanji 杖 mean?

杖 means Staff, Cane. It is the 2325th most common kanji in written Japanese.

How do you read the kanji 杖?

杖 is read on'yomi (Chinese-derived) じょう; kun'yomi (native Japanese) つえ.

How many strokes does 杖 have?

杖 is written with 7 strokes. The animated diagram on this page shows the correct order.

What level is the kanji 杖?

Japanese schoolchildren learn it in name kanji.

What is the radical of 杖?

The radical of 杖 is 木 (tree), radical number 75 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 parts is the kanji 杖 made of?

杖 is built from 木 (tree) and 丈 (length). Learning kanji as combinations of a few hundred reusable components is far more efficient than memorising each character as a separate shape.

What words use the kanji 杖?

Common words written with 杖 include 杖道 (ジョードー, jōdō); 側杖 (ソバズエ, blow received by a bystander, getting dragged in to someone else's fight); 杖術 (ジョージュツ, jōjutsu).

Which kanji sound the same as 杖?

杖 shares a reading with 上 (じょう), 定 (じょう), 場 (じょう), 成 (じょう), 情 (じょう), among others. Same-sounding kanji are one of the most common sources of confusion in Japanese.

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