川 — Kanji Reference

川 (river): 3 strokes, JLPT N5. On: セン. Kun: かわ.

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川

Property Value
Meaning river
Strokes 3
JLPT Level N5
On-reading (音読み) セン
Kun-reading (訓読み) かわ
Radical 川 (kawa - river) [U+5DDD]

Stroke Order

The kanji 川 is written in 3 strokes, following the standard rule of writing from left to right.

  1. Stroke 1: A short vertical stroke starting from the top left, curving slightly downward.
  2. Stroke 2: A longer vertical stroke in the middle, starting slightly higher than the first stroke.
  3. Stroke 3: A long vertical stroke on the right, ending with a small upward flick (hane).

Radical Analysis

The kanji 川 is a pictograph (象形文字 - shōkei moji). It was originally designed to look like the flowing water of a river. The three vertical lines represent the stream of water flowing between banks. Because it is a simple pictograph, it serves as its own radical (the "river" radical).

Mnemonic

The Flowing Stream: Imagine looking down at a river from a high bridge. The three vertical lines are the water currents flowing steadily downstream. If you turn your head sideways, it looks like three fingers of water moving across the land.

On-readings (音読み) with Examples

セン (sen)

Word Reading Romaji English
河川 かせん kasen rivers (general term)
川柳 せんりゅう senryū senryu (humorous haiku)
山川 さんせん sansen mountains and rivers

Kun-readings (訓読み) with Examples

かわ (kawa)

Word Reading Romaji English
川 かわ kawa river
小川 おがわ ogawa stream / brook

JLPT N5 Words Using 川

Word Reading Romaji English JLPT
川 かわ kawa river N5
小川 おがわ ogawa stream N5
河川 かせん kasen rivers N3
川沿い かわぞい kawazoi along the river N3
川上 かわかみ kawakami upstream N3
川下 かわしも kawashimo downstream N3
川辺 かわべ kawabe riverside N3
荒川 あらかわ Arakawa Arakawa (river name) N5

Example Sentences

Japanese Reading Romaji English
川で泳ぎます。 川(かわ)で泳(およ)ぎます。 Kawa de oyogimasu. I swim in the river.
小川が流れています。 小川(おがわ)が流(なが)れています。 Ogawa ga nagarete imasu. A stream is flowing.
川沿いを歩きます。 川沿(かわぞ)いを歩(ある)きます。 Kawazoi o arukimasu. I walk along the river.
この川はとても長いです。 この川(かわ)はとても長(なが)いです。 Kono kawa wa totemo nagai desu. This river is very long.
川上へ向かいます。 川上(かわかみ)へ向(む)かいます。 Kawakami e mukaimasu. I am heading upstream.
山川の景色が綺麗です。 山川(さんせん)の景色(けしき)が綺麗(きれい)です。 Sansen no keshiki ga kirei desu. The scenery of mountains and rivers is beautiful.

Common Confusion Pairs

Kanji Reading Meaning How to distinguish
川 かわ River Three vertical strokes representing water flow.
州 しゅう State / Province Looks like 川 with three dots (islands) inside.
巡 じゅん Go around Contains 川 on the right, but has a "walk" radical on the left.

Usage Frequency Note

川 is a high-frequency kanji taught in the first grade of elementary school (Kyōiku kanji). It is extremely common in daily life, appearing in geographical names, addresses, and everyday conversation. It is equally common in both formal written documents and casual speech.