Kanji N1

司: director, official, govt office

司 is a JLPT N1 kanji meaning director, official, govt office, written with 5 strokes. It is read シ (on) and つかさどる (kun). Children in Japan learn it in grade 4. You will see it in 司法 (しほう, administration of justice) and 上司 (じょうし, superior).

司

Meanings

  • director
  • official
  • govt office
  • rule
  • administer
Strokes5
JLPT levelN1
School gradeGrade 4
Frequency#759 of 2,500

On reading · Kun reading

On reading
  • シ

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

Kun reading
  • つかさどる

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.

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Now draw it

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

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Your turn: draw stroke 1 of 5. Start at the dot.

Common words with 司

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

  • 司法しほう

    administration of justice; judicature

    JLPT N1
  • 上司じょうし

    (one's) superior; (one's) boss; the higher-ups

    JLPT N1
  • 司会しかい

    leading a meeting; presiding over a meeting

    JLPT N2
  • 司るつかさどる

    to be in charge of; to manage; to direct

    JLPT N1
  • 司令官しれいかん

    commandant; commanding officer; general

  • 司令部しれいぶ

    headquarters

  • 公司コンス

    company (in China); firm

  • 司令しれい

    command; commander; commandant

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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.