Kanji N1

掌: palm of hand, rule, administer

掌 is a JLPT N1 kanji meaning palm of hand, rule, administer, written with 12 strokes. It is read ショウ (on) and てのひら, たなごころ (kun). It is one of the jōyō kanji taught in secondary school. You will see it in 車掌 (しゃしょう, conductor) and 掌 (たなごころ, palm).

掌

Meanings

  • palm of hand
  • rule
  • administer
  • conduct
Strokes12
JLPT levelN1
School gradeSecondary school
Frequency#1757 of 2,500

On reading · Kun reading

On reading
  • ショウ

On'yomi: from Chinese, written in katakana. Used in compound words.

Kun reading
  • てのひら
  • たなごころ

Kun'yomi: native Japanese, in hiragana. The faint part is the okurigana, written in kana after the kanji.

Watch the stroke order

Every stroke in order, the live one in vermilion. Replay as often as you like.

123456789101112

Now draw it

Trace each stroke in order. Wrong direction or wrong order gets flagged right away.

1234567891011120 / 12

Your turn: draw stroke 1 of 12. Start at the dot.

Common words with 掌

The most useful words written with it, easiest first. Every other kanji in them opens its own page.

  • 車掌しゃしょう

    (train) conductor

    JLPT N2
  • 掌たなごころ

    palm (of the hand)

    JLPT N1
  • 掌握しょうあく

    grasping; seizing; holding; commanding

  • 合掌がっしょう

    pressing one's hands together in prayer

  • 掌中しょうちゅう

    in the hand; (something) easily manipulated

Learn Japanese with a path that remembers you

Naraio opens soon: one guided path from hiragana to N1, reviews at the right moment, a tutor who listens and kanji checked stroke by stroke. Leave your email and you're among the first in, free to start.

One note now, one email the day we open. Nothing else. Privacy.

Stroke order from KanjiVG © Ulrich Apel, CC BY-SA 3.0. Readings, meanings and words from KANJIDIC2 and JMdict, names from JMnedict, © EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0, and Wikidata, CC0; the Spanish meanings they lack, translated by Naraio from their English, are shared under the same licence. Example sentences from Tatoeba, CC BY 2.0 FR. JLPT lists after Jonathan Waller (tanos.co.uk), CC BY. Sentences split into words with IPADIC © NAIST and IPA, through Lindera.