店 — Kanji Reference

店 (store, shop): 8 strokes, JLPT N5. On: テン. Kun: みせ.

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店

Property Value
Meaning store, shop
Strokes 8
JLPT Level N5
On-reading (音読み) テン
Kun-reading (訓読み) みせ
Radical 广 (madare / "dotted cliff") [U+5E7F]

Stroke Order

The character 店 is written in 8 strokes. Follow the general rules of top-to-bottom and left-to-right:

  1. Stroke 1: The top dot (the "roof" peak).
  2. Stroke 2: The horizontal line starting from the top left, turning into a downward stroke to the left.
  3. Stroke 3: The long, sweeping stroke to the right, forming the "cliff" shape.
  4. Stroke 4: The top horizontal line of the inner component (占).
  5. Stroke 5: The vertical line of the inner component.
  6. Stroke 6: The top horizontal line of the "mouth" (口) component.
  7. Stroke 7: The right vertical line of the "mouth".
  8. Stroke 8: The bottom horizontal line of the "mouth".

Radical Analysis

  • Radical: The main radical is 广 (madare), which depicts a shelter or a building with a roof. This provides the semantic hint that the character relates to a physical location or structure.
  • Component: The inner part is 占 (sen), which means "to occupy" or "to divine." In this context, it acts as a phonetic indicator (providing the ten sound) and suggests a place that "occupies" a space for business.

Mnemonic

  • The Shopkeeper's Roof: Imagine a shopkeeper standing under a roof (广) holding a sign that says "I occupy (占) this space!" because it is his store.
  • The "Ten" Store: Imagine you are at a store (店) where everything costs exactly ten (テン) yen.

On-readings (音読み) with Examples

テン (ten)

Word Reading Romaji English
店員 てんいん ten-in shop clerk
支店 してん shiten branch store
本店 ほんてん honten main store / headquarters
開店 かいてん kaiten opening a store

Kun-readings (訓読み) with Examples

みせ (mise)

Word Reading Romaji English
お店 おみせ o-mise shop (polite)
店先 みせさき misesaki storefront

JLPT N5 Words Using 店

Word Reading Romaji English JLPT
店 みせ mise shop N5
お店 おみせ o-mise shop N5
店員 てんいん ten-in clerk N5
本店 ほんてん honten main store N4
支店 してん shiten branch store N4
開店 かいてん kaiten opening a store N3
閉店 へいてん heiten closing a store N3
書店 しょてん shoten bookstore N3
喫茶店 きっさてん kissaten coffee shop N4
売店 ばいてん baiten kiosk / stand N3

Example Sentences

Japanese Reading Romaji English
あの店は安いです。 あの みせ は やすい です。 Ano mise wa yasui desu. That shop is cheap.
彼は店員です。 かれ は てんいん です。 Kare wa ten-in desu. He is a shop clerk.
本店は東京にあります。 ほんてん は とうきょう に あります。 Honten wa Tōkyō ni arimasu. The main store is in Tokyo.
喫茶店でコーヒーを飲みます。 きっさてん で こーひー を のみます。 Kissaten de kōhī o nomimasu. I will drink coffee at the coffee shop.
この店は九時に開店します。 この みせ は くじ に かいてん します。 Kono mise wa kuji ni kaiten shimasu. This shop opens at 9 o'clock.
閉店時間は何時ですか。 へいてん じかん は なんじ です か。 Heiten jikan wa nanji desu ka? What time is closing time?

Common Confusion Pairs

Kanji Reading Meaning How to distinguish
店 みせ store Has the 广 (roof) radical; refers to a business.
点 てん point/dot Has the 灬 (fire) radical at the bottom; refers to marks or points.
占 うらなう to divine Lacks the 广 (roof) radical; used for fortune-telling.

Usage Frequency Note

店 is a high-frequency kanji used daily in both spoken and written Japanese. You will see it on signs, in business documents, and in casual conversation. It is one of the first kanji learned by students, as it is essential for navigating cities and identifying businesses.