岳 means “high mountain, peak”

がく · gaku

Also: point, mountain

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

たけ

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

ガク

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 8 strokes

The story

A hill (丘) stacked on a mountain (山): a high, craggy peak. 岳 ends the names of great mountains, read だけ or たけ, like 槍ヶ岳 in the Northern Alps, and 山岳 is mountain country, where a 山岳救助隊 rescues climbers.

Used in 山岳 (sangaku, mountains), 山岳部 (sangakubu, mountaineering club), and 八ヶ岳 (yatsugatake, the Yatsugatake range)

More from Peaks & Caves

• 丘 hill
• 洞 cave
• 峡 gorge
• 峰 peak
• 峠 mountain pass
• 坑 pit
• 麓 foot of a mountain
• 窟 cavern
• 塚 mound

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

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