東 means “east”

ひがし · higashi

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

ひがし

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

トウ

JLPT N5 · Taught in grade 2 · 8 strokes

The story

The sun (日) rising tangled in the branches of a tree (木): dawn breaking on the eastern horizon. Tokyo, 東京, is simply the eastern capital.

Used in 東京 (toukyou, Tokyo), 東口 (higashiguchi, east exit), and 関東 (kantou, the Kanto region)

Words with 東

• 東京 (とうきょう, toukyou): Tokyo
• 東西 (とうざい, touzai): east and west

More from Compass & Position

• 方 direction
• 外 outside
• 下 below
• 以 from
• 区 ward
• 北 north
• 所 place
• 西 west
• 南 south
• 図 map
• 右 right
• 左 left

Learn 東 and more kanji free on Fuji Learning · All kanji

Readings from KANJIDIC2, © EDRDG, CC BY-SA.