土 means “soil / earth”

Watch: Gen and Shibamaru learn 土

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Where 土 comes from

土 is often explained as a mound of soil on the ground.

Stroke order (3 strokes)

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3

Words with 土

• 

  土つち

  TSUCHI

  soil

• 

  土曜日どようび

  DOYOUBI

  Saturday

• 

  土足どそく

  DOSOKU

  with shoes on

• 

  お土産おみやげ

  OMIYAGE

  souvenir

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

Reading tips

• お土産 (OMIYAGE, souvenir) has a special reading: 土産 is read みやげ (MIYAGE) as one word.
• 土 and 士 look alike. In 土, the bottom line is longer. In 士 (as in 富士山, Mt. Fuji), the top line is longer.

Other readings of 土

• ト土地 とち TOCHI land

These readings are not in the video. You will meet them later.

In the video

• Gen土足で ごめん！Oops, shoes on!
• Shibamaruくつを ぬいでねPlease take them off!

In Japanese homes and on tatami floors, you take your shoes off. Walking in with your shoes on is 土足 (DOSOKU). At temples you may see the sign 土足禁止 (DOSOKU KINSHI): no shoes.

Example sentences

• 土曜日は やすみです。

  DOYOUBI WA YASUMI DESU.

  Saturday is my day off.

• 日本の お土産を かいました。

  NIHON NO OMIYAGE O KAIMASHITA.

  I bought souvenirs from Japan.

Keep learning kanji

• GENKI I Textbook (3rd Edition)

  Beginner

  A popular first textbook used in many university courses. Each lesson has a dialogue, grammar explanations in English, and plenty of practice.

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• Japanese from Zero! 1

  Absolute beginner

  Starts from zero. Romaji is replaced by hiragana as you learn each one, so you are reading kana before you know it.

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