花 means “flower”

はな · hana

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading): はな
On'yomi (Chinese reading): カ, ケ

JLPT N5 · Taught in grade 1 · 7 strokes

The story

Sakura blossoms last only days, teaching that life's beauty is precious in its brevity.

Central symbol in Japanese art and culture

Where it comes from

Phonetic-Semantic (形声文字): Grass radical above + transformation below.

Flower combines the plant radical (艹) with 化 (transform/change). The logic is poetic: a flower is a plant that undergoes a beautiful transformation: from bud to bloom.

To remember it: A plant (艹) that changes (化) into something beautiful. That's a flower blooming!

Its parts

艹 Grass/plant · Top
化 Change · Bottom

A plant (艹) that transforms (化): flowers bloom and change

Words with 花

花火 (はなび, hanabi): fireworks
野花 (のばな, nobana): wildflower
花鳥 (かちょう, kachou): flowers and birds
火花 (ひばな, hibana): sparks
生花 (いけばな, ikebana): flower arrangement

Example sentences

花が咲きました。 The flowers have bloomed.
お花見に行きませんか。 Would you like to go flower viewing?
母に花をあげました。 I gave flowers to my mother.

Kanji that look like 花

草 (grass): 草 has 早 under the grass radical, 花 has 化: both start with 艹

More from Nature's Poetry

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