北 means “north”

きた · kita

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

きた

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

ホク

JLPT N5 · Taught in grade 2 · 5 strokes

The story

Two people sitting back to back: ancient houses faced south, so north was the direction at everyone's back. Snowy Hokkaido, 北海道, is literally the northern sea road.

Used in 北海道 (hokkaidou, Hokkaido), 北口 (kitaguchi, north exit), and 東北 (touhoku, the Tohoku region)

Words with 北

• 北海 (ほっかい, hokkai): northern sea
• 南北 (なんぼく, nanboku): north and south

More from Compass & Position

• 所 place
• 西 west
• 南 south
• 図 map
• 右 right
• 左 left
• 中 inside
• 後 behind
• 前 front
• 上 above
• 東 east
• 方 direction

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

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