岡 means “hill, knoll”

おか · oka

Also: mount

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

おか

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

コウ

JLPT N1 · Taught in grade 4 · 8 strokes

The story

A mountain (山) inside a frame (冂): a low ridge, a hill. 岡 lives in names on the map, 岡山, Okayama, 静岡, Shizuoka, and 福岡, Fukuoka, and on doorplates all over Japan, in family names like 岡田 and 岡本.

Used in 静岡 (shizuoka, Shizuoka), 福岡 (fukuoka, Fukuoka), and 岡山 (okayama, Okayama)

More from Across Japan

• 阪 slope
• 崎 cape
• 奈 Nara
• 沖 open sea
• 埼 cape
• 縄 rope
• 茨 thorn
• 潟 lagoon
• 栃 horse chestnut
• 岐 branch off
• 阜 hill
• 畿 capital region

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

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