Shibamaru & Gen

Kanji #0014

校 means “school”

On-yomiコウKOU
  • JLPT N5
  • Grade 1
  • 10 strokes

校 (KOU) means "school." You almost never see it alone: it is in 学校 (GAKKOU), 高校 (KOUKOU), and more.

Watch: Gen and Shibamaru learn 校

The video loads from YouTube when you press play. Open on YouTube

Where 校 comes from

校 has 木 (tree, wood) on the left and 交 on the right. 交 gives the kanji its sound, コウ (KOU).

Stroke order (10 strokes)

  1. 11
  2. 22
  3. 33
  4. 44
  5. 55
  6. 66
  7. 77
  8. 88
  9. 99
  10. 1010

Words with 校

  • 学校がっこう

    GAKKOU

    school

  • 小学校しょうがっこう

    SHOUGAKKOU

    elementary school

  • 中学校ちゅうがっこう

    CHUUGAKKOU

    junior high school

  • 高校こうこう

    KOUKOU

    high school

  • 高校生こうこうせい

    KOUKOUSEI

    high school student

  • 日本語学校にほんごがっこう

    NIHONGOGAKKOU

    Japanese language school

The part of each word written with 校 is shown in orange. Audio: the readings from our video.

Reading tips

  • The order of schools in Japan: 小学校 (SHOUGAKKOU, 6 years), then 中学校 (CHUUGAKKOU, 3 years), then 高校 (KOUKOU, 3 years).
  • 学校 is GAKKOU, not GAKUKOU: がく becomes がっ before こう.
  • 高校 (KOUKOU) is two different kanji with the same sound: 高 (high) and 校 (school).

In the video

  • Gen日本語学校、行きたい!I want to go to Japanese school!
  • Shibamaruゲンは 日本人でしょBut you're Japanese, Gen!

Gen wants to go to a Japanese language school, but Gen is already Japanese.

Example sentences

  • わたしの 学校は えきの ちかくです。

    WATASHI NO GAKKOU WA EKI NO CHIKAKU DESU.

    My school is near the station.

  • いもうとは 高校生です。

    IMOUTO WA KOUKOUSEI DESU.

    My younger sister is a high school student.

Keep learning kanji

Stroke order data: KanjiVG © Ulrich Apel, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. The kanji graphics on this page are drawn from KanjiVG data (stroke width and color changed, animated) and are shared under the same license. Level: JLPT N5 is a study guide only; JLPT does not publish an official kanji list.