5 easy kanji to learn first (山 火 木 人 口)

If you’re about to learn your first kanji, start with these five: 山 (mountain), 火 (fire), 木 (tree), 人 (person) and 口 (mouth). Each began as a simple drawing of the thing it means, so the shape itself reminds you of the meaning. They’re also everywhere: in place names, on signs, and inside many other kanji.

The five pictures

山, mountain. Three peaks, the middle one tallest. In the oldest forms they were little triangles. On its own it’s やま (yama); in names it’s often さん (san), as in 富士山 (Fujisan), Mount Fuji.

火, fire. A fire with its flames leaping up. On its own it’s ひ (hi); in compounds it’s usually か (ka).

木, tree. Branches on top, roots below and the trunk running through; the roots are clearer in the oldest forms. On its own it’s き (ki); in 木曜日 (mokuyoubi), Thursday, it’s もく (moku).

人, person. A person seen from the side, standing with arms hanging down, worn down over the centuries to two strokes. On its own it’s ひと (hito). For nationality it’s じん (jin): 日本人 (nihonjin), a Japanese person. For counting people it’s にん (nin): 三人 (sannin), three people.

口, mouth. An open mouth. On its own it’s くち (kuchi), and in 出口 (deguchi), exit, and 入口 (iriguchi), entrance, it softens to ぐち (guchi). In other compounds it’s often こう (kou).

Put them together

With just these five, you can already read some real words:

• 火山 (kazan), fire + mountain: a volcano.
• 火口 (kakou), fire + mouth: a volcano’s crater.
• 人口 (jinkou), person + mouth: population, as if counting mouths to feed.
• 山火事 (yamakaji), mountain + 火事 (kaji), a fire: a wildfire.

And put a person (亻, the squeezed form of 人) beside a tree, and you get 休, as in 休む (yasumu), to rest.

Will you remember them tomorrow?

The video ends by asking how many you’ll still know tomorrow. New kanji fade fast unless you meet them again, so the trick is to look again just as they start to slip: tomorrow, then in a few days, then in a week. Close this page now, and tomorrow morning try writing all five from memory.

How to use them

• 山に登りました。

  Yama ni noborimashita.

  I climbed a mountain.

• 火を消してください。

  Hi o keshite kudasai.

  Please put out the fire.

• 大きい木ですね。

  Ookii ki desu ne.

  What a big tree.

• あの人は誰ですか。

  Ano hito wa dare desu ka.

  Who is that person?

• 出口はどこですか。

  Deguchi wa doko desu ka.

  Where's the exit?

• One kanji, several readings. On their own, these kanji use native Japanese readings: yama, hi, ki, hito, kuchi. Inside longer words they often switch to readings borrowed from Chinese: san, ka, moku, jin, kou. You’ll get a feel for which is which as you meet more words.
• Fire day, tree day. 火曜日 (kayoubi) is Tuesday and 木曜日 (mokuyoubi) is Thursday.
• Don’t mix up 人 and 入. 入 (hairu), to enter, looks like 人 in a mirror: in 人 the left stroke reaches the top, and in 入 it’s the right one.

Words with the same kanji

Remember it

Draw one little scene: a mountain (山) with a fire (火) on its slope, a tree (木) at its foot, and a person (人) standing beside it, mouth (口) wide open. Five kanji, one picture.

The kanji in this lesson

Tap Draw it to watch the stroke order. Numbers show where each stroke starts.

Draw it

Draw it

Draw it

Draw it

Draw it

Sources

• Wiktionary: 山
• Wiktionary: 木
• Multi-function Chinese Character Database (CUHK): 人

Written by the Chirami team with the help of AI, then checked against JMdict and KANJIDIC2. How we write lessons. Spotted a mistake? Email support@brightsmilesolutions.org.