Kanji Study

Bushu (Radical) Info:
襾 (ア, け, にし) – cover; place on top of; west
西 (セイ, サイ, ス, にし, いり, ひし, むら) – west; Spain

Henshall Mnemonic: every western has vital need for woman in it

Levels: JLPT N3 | JLPT 2 (old) | Grade 4
Frequency: #106 of the 2500 most used kanji in newspapers

Common Words and/or Phrases Using this Kanji:

Click any individual kanji to view a similar information sheet for it.
Click [K] to look up the word's individual character(s) at WWWJDIC.
Click [D] to look up the word at WWWJDIC (definition is the same but other useful features exist).
Click [Jisho] to look up the word at Jisho.org.

JLPT N5 Words

• 要る   [いる]
  (v5r) to need   [K] [D] [Jisho]

JLPT N4 Words

• 必要   [ひつよう]
  (adj-na,n) necessary; essential; indispensable   [K] [D] [Jisho]

JLPT N3 Words

• 要するに   [ようするに]
  (adv,exp) in a word; after all; the point is ..; in short ..   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 要求   [ようきゅう]
  (n,vs) request; demand; requisition   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 要素   [ようそ]
  (n) element   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 主要   [しゅよう]
  (adj-na,n) chief; main; principal; major   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 要点   [ようてん]
  (n) gist; main point   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 重要   [じゅうよう]
  (adj-na,n) important; momentous; essential; principal; major   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 需要   [じゅよう]
  (n) demand; request   [K] [D] [Jisho]

JLPT N2 Words

• 要旨   [ようし]
  (n) gist; essentials; summary; fundamentals   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 要領   [ようりょう]
  (n) point; gist; essentials; outline   [K] [D] [Jisho]

JLPT N1 Words

• 要因   [よういん]
  (n) primary factor; main cause   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 要請   [ようせい]
  (n,vs) claim; demand; request; application   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 要望   [ようぼう]
  (n) demand for; request   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 要する   [ようする]
  (vs-s) to demand; to require; to take   [K] [D] [Jisho]

Other Popular Words Not Classified by JLPT

• 要は   [ようは]
  (adv) in short; the point is   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 所要   [しょよう]
  (adj-no,n) required; needed; necessary   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 不要   [ふよう]
  (adj-na,n) non-business; of no use; waste (products); unnecessary   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 要員   [よういん]
  (n) essential member; necessary person; personnel   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 要件   [ようけん]
  (n) requirement; important matter   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 要綱   [ようこう]
  (n) principle   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 要項   [ようこう]
  (n) important points   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 要所   [ようしょ]
  (n) important point; important position   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 要衝   [ようしょう]
  (n) important point; strategic position; key point   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 要職   [ようしょく]
  (n) important office   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 概要   [がいよう]
  (n-t) outline; summary   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 要人   [ようじん]
  (n) important person   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 要注意   [ようちゅうい]
  (n) attention (care) required; needs special attention   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 要約   [ようやく]
  (n,vs) summary; digest   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 必要性   [ひつようせい]
  (n) necessity   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 重要文化財   [じゅうようぶんかざい]
  important national treasure; important cultural property   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 強要   [きょうよう]
  (n) coercion; extortion   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 法要   [ほうよう]
  (n) Buddhist memorial service   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 学習指導要領   [がくしゅうしどうようりょう]
  government course (curriculum) guidelines   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 不必要   [ふひつよう]
  (adj-na,n) unnecessary   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 肝要   [かんよう]
  (adj-na,n) essential; vital; crucial; importance   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 身代金要求   [みのしろきんようきゅう]
  (n) ransom demand   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 要   [かなめ]
  (n) pivot; vital point   [K] [D] [Jisho]

Find more details for 要 at jisho.org, Yookoso! or WWWJDIC

Acknowledgments

The sofware used to generate this kanji information uses the EDICT and KANJIDIC files. These files are the property of the Electronic Dictionary Research and Development Group at Monash University and are used in conformance with the Group's license.

NOTE: I converted the sources just mentioned years ago and have never really updated so there may be some missing or incorrect information that has been addressed in the original sources but not here.

The first Stroke Order image used on this page is courtesy of Ulrich Apel's excellent open source KanjiVG project. The second image is from the folks at the excellent Jisho Japanese-English dictionary site and it too is based on KanjiVG.

Classifying the kanji and popular vocabulary by the new JLPT levels was done by consulting Jonathan Waller‘s JLPT Resources page, renshuu, Wictionary, and Nihongo Ichiban.

The Henshall Mnemonics are the copyright of Tuttle Publishing and are the result of the hard work by Professor Henshall. See the list I used here.

If you are curious about the lexicography shown in the word definitions, visit the WWWJDIC abbreviations and codes guide and the JMdict/Edict Lexicographical details page.