Kanji

Jōyō kanji, Taught in junior high

JLPT level: N1

1305 of 2500 most used kanji in newspapers

Stroke count: 10

Meaning: sabre, sword, blade, clock hand

Kunyomi: つるぎ

Onyomi: ケン

Composition:

Radical

Radical:

Meaning: knife, sword

Examples

Onyomi Examples

ケン sword (esp. a large, double-edged one), blade, bayonet, swordsmanship, stinger, ovipositor, dart

ケンシ swordsman, swordswoman, fencer

ジュウケン bayonet, guns and swords

トウケン sword, dagger, knife, bayonet

Kunyomi Examples

けん sword (esp. a large, double-edged one), blade, bayonet, swordsmanship, stinger, ovipositor, dart

の山 つるぎのやま mountain of swords, mountain in hell covered in swords (with their tips pointing upward)

月の つきのつるぎ new moon, crescent moon

草薙の くさなぎのつるぎ Kusanagi no Tsurugi (alternate name for Ama-no-Murakumo no Tsurugi; the sword of the Imperial regalia), grass-mowing sword