Kanji · JLPT N5 · Level 9
本 book, origin
- Meaning
- book, origin
- On reading
- ホン
- Kun reading
- もと
Memory hook
木 (tree) with a mark cut at the base: the root, the origin. Books were made from trees. ホン. 日本 Nihon is 'sun origin'.
Words that use 本
本
ほん
book
日本
にほん
Japan
How to write 本
Stroke order · 5 strokes
1
2
3
4
5
- 1. The horizontal across the top.
- 2. The vertical through the centre.
- 3. The sweep down to the left.
- 4. The diagonal down to the right.
- 5. The horizontal across the bottom.
Stroke data from KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.
General rules
- Top to bottom, left to right.
- Horizontal strokes before crossing vertical ones (十 = horizontal, then vertical).
- Outside before inside - but close a box last (口).
- A vertical that passes all the way through comes last (中).
- Left-falling diagonal before right-falling (大).
本 is taught on day 23 of the kanji course, alongside 国 語, with two writing passes and a short quiz.