海 means “sea”

うみ · umi

Also: ocean

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading): うみ
On'yomi (Chinese reading): カイ

JLPT N4 · Taught in grade 2 · 9 strokes

The story

Japan is an island nation. The sea gave life, trade routes, and stories of distant lands.

Japan is surrounded by sea; a common element in Japanese identity

Where it comes from

Phonetic-Semantic (形声文字): Water radical + "every/mother" phonetic component.

The sea is water (氵) that extends in every direction (毎). The water radical gives you the meaning, and 毎 (every) gives you both the pronunciation and the sense of vastness: water everywhere you look.

To remember it: Water (氵) that's everywhere (毎). That's the ocean!

Its parts

氵 Water · Left side
毎 Every/each · Right side

Water (氵) everywhere (毎): the sea

Words with 海

海水 (かいすい, kaisui): seawater
山海 (さんかい, sankai): mountains and sea
雲海 (うんかい, unkai): sea of clouds
海風 (うみかぜ, umikaze): sea breeze
北海 (ほっかい, hokkai): northern sea

Example sentences

海で泳ぐのが好きです。 I like swimming in the sea.
海はとても広いです。 The sea is very vast.
夏に海に行きたいです。 I want to go to the sea in summer.

Kanji that look like 海

湖 (lake): 湖 has 古 and 月 on the right: an older, calmer body of water

More from Nature's Poetry

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