Skip to main content
Tan the tanuki mascotMichiKanji

苦“suffering” Kanjikurushii / ku

JLPT N3

How to write 苦

Loading stroke order...

Meaning and readings

Meaning

suffering, bitter

Onyomi (音読み)

  • く ku

Chinese reading

Kunyomi (訓読み)

  • くる（しい） kuru(shii)
  • にが（い） niga(i)

Japanese reading

Practice 苦 on paper — a printable tracing grid with stroke order

Print a practice sheet (opens in a new tab)
Tan the tanuki mascot giving a thumbs up

Nice — one more kanji learned!

Review what you’ve learned →

Related kanji

N3
政

politics, government

N3
議

deliberation, consultation, debate

N3
民

people, nation, subjects

N3
官

bureaucrat, the government, organ

N3
法

method, law, rule, principle, model, system

N3
制

system, law, rule

N3
治

reign, cure, heal

N3
権

authority, power, rights

Learn to express yourself in Japanese

Journal and get instant corrections with a custom curriculum.

Japanese learning interface showing text correction and feedback