Kanji

Jōyō kanji, Taught in grade 4

JLPT level: N4

1046 of 2500 most used kanji in newspapers

Stroke count: 12

Meaning: meal, boiled rice

Kunyomi: めし

Onyomi: ハン

Composition:

Radical

Radical:

Reading: しょくへん

Meaning: eat, food

Strokes: 8

Examples

Examples with audio

(ごはん)   rice (cooked), meal

(ゆうはん)   dinner

朝御(あさごはん)   breakfast

昼御(ひるごはん)   lunch

晩御(ばんごはん)   dinner

器(すいはんき)   rice cooker

(めし)   meal, food (derogatory)

前(あさめしまえ)   simple, a piece of cake

Onyomi Examples

ハンテン Chinese restaurant

ハンギリ flat-bottomed wooden bowl for preparing sushi rice

ベイハン cooked rice

セキハン red rice (beans and mochi) for auspicious occasions

Kunyomi Examples

めし cooked rice, meal, food, one's living, livelihood

売女 めしうりおんな maid at an inn who served clients and worked as a prostitute (Edo period)

握り にぎりめし rice ball

冷や ひやめし cold rice, hanger-on, dependent, disgraced former actor