赤
| Property |
Value |
| Meaning |
red |
| Strokes |
7 |
| JLPT Level |
N5 |
| On-reading (音読み) |
セキ、シャク |
| Kun-reading (訓読み) |
あか、あか-い |
| Radical |
大 (dai - big) |
Stroke Order
The kanji 赤 is written in 7 strokes. Follow the standard rule of top-to-bottom and left-to-right:
- Stroke 1: The short horizontal line at the top.
- Stroke 2: The left vertical stroke of the top component.
- Stroke 3: The right vertical stroke of the top component.
- Stroke 4: The horizontal line connecting the top component.
- Stroke 5: The horizontal stroke of the bottom "big" (大) part.
- Stroke 6: The left sweeping stroke (払 - harai) of the bottom part.
- Stroke 7: The right sweeping stroke (払 - harai) of the bottom part.
Radical Analysis
The kanji 赤 is composed of two main parts:
- Top part (土 + 𠂇): Represents a fire or a person standing over a fire.
- Bottom part (大): The radical for "big."
- Combined Meaning: The character depicts a person standing over a fire, which makes their skin turn red. It is a pictograph representing the color of fire or blood.
Mnemonic
Imagine a big (大) fire burning on the ground. It is so hot that the person standing near it turns bright red (赤) from the heat!
On-readings (音読み) with Examples
セキ (seki)
| Word |
Reading |
Romaji |
English |
| 赤道 |
せきどう |
sekidō |
equator |
| 赤十字 |
せきじゅうじ |
sekijūji |
Red Cross |
| 赤字 |
せきじ |
sekiji |
deficit / in the red |
シャク (shaku)
| Word |
Reading |
Romaji |
English |
| 赤飯 |
せきはん |
sekihan |
red bean rice |
| 赤裸々 |
せきらら |
sekirara |
frank / naked / explicit |
Note: While "sekihan" is technically a reading of "seki," "shaku" is often used in specific compound terms like "赤銅" (shakudō - copper alloy).
Kun-readings (訓読み) with Examples
あか (aka)
| Word |
Reading |
Romaji |
English |
| 赤色 |
あかいろ |
akairo |
red color |
| 真っ赤 |
まっか |
makka |
bright red |
あか-い (aka-i)
| Word |
Reading |
Romaji |
English |
| 赤い花 |
あかいはな |
akai hana |
red flower |
| 赤い服 |
あかいふく |
akai fuku |
red clothes |
JLPT N5 Words Using 赤
| Word |
Reading |
Romaji |
English |
JLPT |
| 赤い |
あかい |
akai |
red |
N5 |
| 赤 |
あか |
aka |
red |
N5 |
| 赤ちゃん |
あかちゃん |
akachan |
baby |
N5 |
| 真っ赤 |
まっか |
makka |
deep red |
N4 |
| 赤字 |
せきじ |
sekiji |
deficit |
N3 |
| 赤道 |
せきどう |
sekidō |
equator |
N3 |
| 赤信号 |
あかしんごう |
akashingō |
red light |
N4 |
| 赤外線 |
せきがいせん |
sekigaisen |
infrared |
N3 |
Example Sentences
| Japanese |
Reading |
Romaji |
English |
| 彼女は赤い服を着ている。 |
かのじょはあかいふくをきている。 |
Kanojo wa akai fuku o kite iru. |
She is wearing red clothes. |
| 赤ちゃんが泣いています。 |
あかちゃんがないています。 |
Akachan ga naite imasu. |
The baby is crying. |
| 信号が赤になった。 |
しんごうがあかになった。 |
Shingō ga aka ni natta. |
The traffic light turned red. |
| 彼は真っ赤な顔をした。 |
かれはまっかなかおをした。 |
Kare wa makka na kao o shita. |
He turned bright red in the face. |
| 今年は赤字です。 |
ことしはせきじです。 |
Kotoshi wa sekiji desu. |
We are in the red (deficit) this year. |
| 赤道直下は暑い。 |
せきどうちょっかはあつい。 |
Sekidō chokka wa atsui. |
It is hot right on the equator. |
Common Confusion Pairs
| Kanji |
Reading |
Meaning |
How to distinguish |
| 赤 |
あか |
red |
Has the "big" (大) radical at the bottom. |
| 走 |
はし(る) |
to run |
The top part is different; it has a "soil" (土) and "human" (人) shape. |
| 赦 |
しゃ |
forgive |
Contains the "red" (赤) component but with a "strike" (攵) radical. |
Usage Frequency Note
赤 is one of the most fundamental kanji in the Japanese language. It is taught in the first grade of elementary school (Gakushū Kanji). It is extremely common in daily life, appearing in everything from traffic signals and business finance (deficit) to describing colors and even referring to infants (akachan). It is equally common in formal writing and casual speech.