Kanji Study

Bushu (Radical) Info: 口 (くち) – mouth

Henshall Mnemonic: taste lingers unfinished in the mouth

Levels: JLPT N4 | JLPT 3 (old) | Grade 3
Frequency: #442 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

• 意味   [いみ]
  (n,vs) meaning; significance   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 美味しい   [おいしい]
  (adj) delicious; tasty   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 不味い   [まずい]
  (adj) (uk) unappetising; unpleasant (taste, appearance, situation); ugly; unskilful; awkward; bungling; unwise; untimely   [K] [D] [Jisho]

JLPT N4 Words

• 趣味   [しゅみ]
  (n) hobby; tastes; preference   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 味   [あじ]
  (adj-na,n) flavor; taste   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 味噌   [みそ]
  (n) (1) miso; bean paste; (2) key (main) point   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 興味   [きょうみ]
  (n) interest (in something)   [K] [D] [Jisho]

JLPT N3 Words

• 気味   [きみ]
  (n) sensation; feeling   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 味方   [みかた]
  (n) friend; ally; supporter   [K] [D] [Jisho]

JLPT N2 Words

• 地味   [じみ]
  (adj-na,n) plain; simple   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 味わう   [あじわう]
  (v5u) to taste; to savor; to relish   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 正味   [しょうみ]
  (n) net (weight)   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 調味料   [ちょうみりょう]
  (n) condiment; seasoning   [K] [D] [Jisho]

JLPT N1 Words

• 吟味   [ぎんみ]
  (n) testing; scrutiny; careful investigation   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 無意味   [むいみ]
  (adj-na,n) nonsense; no meaning   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 加味   [かみ]
  (n,vs) (1) seasoning; flavoring; (2) taking (something) into consideration; taking into account   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 三味線   [しゃみせん]
  (n) three-stringed Japanese guitar; shamisen   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 味わい   [あじわい]
  (adj-no,n) (1) flavour; (2) meaning; significance   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 味覚   [みかく]
  (adj-na,n) taste; palate; sense of taste   [K] [D] [Jisho]

Other Popular Words Not Classified by JLPT

• 苦味   [くみ]
  (n) bitterness; bitter taste   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 苦味   [にがみ]
  (n) bitterness; bitter taste   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 珍味   [ちんみ]
  (n) delicacy   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 不気味   [ぶきみ]
  (adj-na,n) weird; ominous; eerie; uncanny; ghastly   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 風味   [ふうみ]
  (n) taste; flavor   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 持ち味   [もちあじ]
  (n) inherent flavor; distinctive characteristic   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 薬味   [やくみ]
  (n) spice(s); condiment(s)   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 意味合い   [いみあい]
  (n) implication; nuance   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 切れ味   [きれあじ]
  (n) sharpness (of a sword); the feel of a cutting edge   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 味の素   [あじのもと]
  (n) monosodium glutamate (brand name); MSG   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 味噌汁   [みそしる]
  (n) miso soup   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 味付け   [あじつけ]
  (n,vs) seasoning; flavour   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 酸味   [さんみ]
  (n) sourness; acidity   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 甘味   [あまみ]
  (n) sweetness; sugary taste   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 甘味料   [かんみりょう]
  (n) sweeteners; sweetening materials   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 興味深い   [きょうみぶかい]
  (adj) very interesting; of great interest   [K] [D] [Jisho]

Find more details for 味 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.