Kanji N1

柳: willow

柳 is a JLPT N1 kanji meaning willow, written with 9 strokes. It is read リュウ (on) and やなぎ (kun). It is one of the jōyō kanji taught in secondary school. You will see it in 柳 (やなぎ, willow) and 川柳 (せんりゅう, senryū).

柳

Meanings

  • willow
Strokes9
JLPT levelN1
School gradeSecondary school
Frequency#1169 of 2,500

On reading · Kun reading

On reading
  • リュウ

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

Kun reading
  • やなぎ

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.

123456789

Now draw it

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

1234567890 / 9

Your turn: draw stroke 1 of 9. Start at the dot.

Common words with 柳

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

  • 柳やなぎ

    willow (any tree of genus Salix)

  • 川柳せんりゅう

    senryū; comic haiku

  • 青柳あおやぎ

    green willow (i.e. one that has budded)

  • 花柳かりゅう

    red-light district

  • 花柳界かりゅうかい

    red-light district; pleasure quarters

  • 柳刃包丁やなぎばぼうちょう

    kitchen knife for sashimi

Ready to start?

It's free to start, from hiragana to your first kanji. Get in early and your account keeps every step.

Start free

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. JLPT lists after Jonathan Waller (tanos.co.uk), CC BY.