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On'yomi
KA
Kun'yomi
かわ
kawa

river

nature

Details

Strokes8
Frequency#663
Radicalwater(4)

Stroke Order

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Strokes8

Component Breakdown

=

left-right: water + 可

Cultural Context

Etymology

Composed of water and phonetic. Flowing water.

Symbolism

River, great river, galaxy. Represents large flow.

Related Culture & Scenes

  • Flow of the river

Words & Expressions

Four-Character Compounds

白河夜船

しらかわよふね

being fast asleep (and totally unaware of what is going on around one); know-it-all manner; being fast asleep (and totally unaware of what is going on around one)

暴虎馮河

ぼうこひょうが

foolhardy courage; foolhardy courage

屍山血河

しざんけつが

heaps of bodies and streams of blood; fierce battle; heaps of bodies and streams of blood

百年河清

ひゃくねんかせい

waiting for one hundred years for the waters of the Yellow River to clear; waiting in vain for an unlikely event; waiting for pigs to fly; waiting for one hundred years for the waters of the Yellow River to clear

二河白道

にがびゃくどう

the road to paradise is a white road between two rivers, one of water (wrath) and one of fire (greed); the road to paradise is a white road between two rivers, one of water (wrath) and one of fire (greed)

Proverbs & Idioms

河童の川流れ

かっぱのかわながれ

Even kappa drown

Even experts can fail at their specialty