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香 means 'fragrance'

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Strokes : 9    Radical number: 186    Frequency: 505   JLPT: N2    Usefulness: 4    Study set: 4-3    Grade: 8   Intermediate lesson: 37    Beginner lesson: -   Begins 68 words   Used in 171 words   Used in 4269 names   Component in 10 kanji (0 Jōyō)
Jōyō (常用)
Common readings
On
   コウ   キョウ
Kun
   かおり fragrance   かおる to be fragrant   か scent, odour
Name
   か
Additional readings
Name    こ   こお   ひゃん   よし
Variants
⾹  
Notes
A Joy o' Kanji essay is available for 香 - click the badge to download
With a plethora of photos, this essay shows how 香 conveys the scent of everything from coffee to flowers in signs from around the globe. This kanji also means "incense" (which has played an important role in Japanese culture and religion for centuries), as well as 'perfume' (which hasn't). On top of that, 香 factors into two notable place names and some food terms. It's even a radical!
View in the essay collection    All Joy o' Kanji essays  
The essay is also included in the following Thematic Bundles
31
Scents and Sensibility
香 臭 嗅 匂
These four kanji are practically symbiotic. The verb 嗅ぐ takes 香り, 臭い, and 匂い as direct objects. Although people usually reserve 臭い for stenches and 匂い for fragrances, these words (both におい) can be interchangeable. Each could convey that something "smacks of" a quality. Whereas 臭い can mean that a man looks suspicious, as if he "smells of" a crime, 嗅 enables people to sniff out crimes! Three of the kanji have ties to religion, and with 香 as "incense," that connection is strong.
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Essay 1255 on 香 (fragrance; "perfume" radical) covers this shape, which doesn't appear in any Jōyō characters aside from 香 itself but smells really nice!
Components
⿱  禾 grain  日 sun; day  
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Most useful words by reading
In the most useful 10,000 words in Japanese, 香 is used 12 times, read 4 ways (with 1 variation). 1 word uses a non-standard reading.
Across all words in Japanese, 香 is used 148 times, read 4 ways (with 5 variations). 1 word uses a non-standard reading.
Showing:
コウ : 118 words FIND ALL
こ う す い 0
noun
perfume
(click the word for examples and links)
キョウ : 7 words FIND ALL
き ょ う し ゃ 0
noun
lance  (shogi term)
(click the word for examples and links)
コウ (read as ごう) : 1 word FIND ALL
そ で ご う ろ 3
noun
portable incense burner (ball-shaped and carried in one's clothes)
(click the word for examples and links)
キョウ (read as ぎょう) : 1 word FIND ALL
ひ ぎ ょ う し ゃ 2
noun
court ladies' residence (in the inner Heian Palace)  (see also: 五舎)
(click the word for examples and links)
か : 8 words FIND ALL
noun
smell (esp. a good smell); fragrance; scent; aroma; perfume  (see also: 花の香; esp. 〜の香)
(click the word for examples and links)
かおり : 5 words FIND ALL
か お り 0
noun
aroma; fragrance; scent; smell
(click the word to view an additional 5 forms, examples and links)
か (read as が) : 4 words FIND ALL
う つ り が 3 う つ り が 0
noun
lingering scent
(click the word for examples and links)
かおり (read as かおり) : 1 word FIND ALL
か お り 0
Most common form: 香り
noun
aroma; fragrance; scent; smell
(click the word to view an additional 5 forms, examples and links)
こ: 2 words. FIND ALL
し ん こ 0
noun
pickled vegetables; pickles  (see also: お新香)
(click the word to view an additional 1 reading, examples and links)
Part of a non-standard reading: 1 word. FIND ALL
ほ ん こ ん 1
noun
Hong Kong; Hongkong
(click the word to view an additional 2 forms, examples and links)
An additional 23 less common words include 香 but the reading has not yet been categorized.
Quick links
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More information
Wiktionary ⇗ | Unicode.org ⇗ | Google Japan ⇗ | Hanziyuan etymology ⇗
Additional data
Henshall: 1255  Joy o' Kanji : 1255  Key to Kanji: - 

Cascading kanji view

香
コウ   キョウ   かおり fragrance   かおる to be fragrant   か scent, odour   
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禾
grain
日
ニチ   ジツ   sun; day   ひ    -か    
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