初 — first

Kanji

〈 1 of 1 〉

Meaning

first

Onyomi

ショ

Kunyomi

はじ、はつ、うい、そ

Radical

かたな
かたな
knife, sword
2

Strokes

7

Grade

4

Kodansha

759

Classic Nelson

4215

Hint

First step in making a garment 衤 is to cut the cloth with scissors 刀.
Kanji alive

Examples

最初（さいしょ）
beginning
初日（しょにち）
first day
初対面（しょたいめん）
first meeting
初級（しょきゅう）
elementary level
初心者（しょしんしゃ）
beginner
初期（しょき）
early (days)
初めて（はじめて）
for the first time
初めに（はじめに）
first of all
初恋（はつこい）
first love
初々しい（ういういしい）
innocent
なれ初め（なれそめ）
start of a romance
書き初め（かきぞめ）
New Year's writing
Stroke 1 Stroke 2 Stroke 3 Stroke 4 Stroke 5 Stroke 6 Stroke 7

Quick Reference

Please see our User Guide for detailed explanations of all of Kanji alive's features or watch our short demonstration videos. If you are having technical difficulties, please refer to our Troubleshooting page.

詳細は、メニューの「日本語」内にある使用説明とトラブルシューティングをご参照ください。

Navigation

Next/Previous kanji Use the and keys or click on the left and right single pointed brackets in the top navigation bar
Toggle kanji animation/typeface Use the or keys or click on the large image of the kanji.
Next/Previous typeface Use the Shift + and Shift + keys or click on the left and right single pointed brackets next to the name of the typeface
Return to Search Click on the text of the current search term on the far left of the navigation bar

Note: The order in which kanji appear in the detail view when selecting the next or previous kanji is dependant on the sort mode previously chosen in the search view.

Other Interactive Elements

Play/Pause kanji animation Use the spacebar or click on the play/pause icon in the center of the kanji animation controls.
Next/Previous stroke Use the Shift + or Shift + keys, click the previous and next stroke icons on each side of the play/pause icon or move your mouse cursor over the stroke breakdown images.
Radical animation Use the Shift + r keys or click on the image on the far right of the radical field to view an animation illustrating the radical's historical derivation.
Examples Move your mouse cursor over a Japanese word in the Examples field to reveal its English meaning. Click on the play icon to the right of each example to hear its pronunciation.

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