How to Count Kanji Strokes: The Parts Learners Often Miscount

How many strokes does 口 have? It looks like a square, so many learners say four. The answer is three: the left vertical line, a line that runs across the top and turns down the right side, and the bottom horizontal line.

A kanji’s stroke count (画数, kakusū) is the number of strokes you make when you write it in the correct stroke order. One stroke is everything you draw without lifting the pen. If a line bends or turns but you keep writing, it is still one stroke. Put another way, you count how many times you put the pen down, not how many lines you can see.

This post covers the parts of kanji where stroke counts often go wrong, with example characters. The links go to the stroke order pages on this site. They are in Japanese, but each page shows the stroke count in the row marked 画数 and a diagram with every stroke numbered.

A bent line is one stroke

A common mistake is counting a bent line as two strokes.

口 has 3 strokes. The line across the top and down the right is one.
己 has 3. The last line, which goes down, turns right and flicks up, is one.
弓 has 3, and is often counted as 4 or 5: the bent line at the top, the short horizontal in the middle, and one line that goes down from there, bends, and ends in a hook.
九 and 力 have 2 each. In both, the line that goes across, turns down and hooks is one stroke.
区 has 4: the top horizontal, two strokes for the メ inside, and an L shape that runs down the left side and along the bottom in one stroke. Count the enclosing line as separate vertical and horizontal lines and you get 5.
母 has 5. The line down the left that turns along the bottom, and the line across the top that turns down the right, are one stroke each.

With characters like these, it is easier to count by writing them in the air with a finger than by counting lines with your eyes.

Radicals that are easy to miscount

辶 (the “walking” radical, shinnyō) has 3 strokes: a dot, a short winding line, and a long sweep to the right. 近 is 斤 (4) plus 3, which makes 7. 道 has 12. If you split the winding part into pieces, the count goes up.

阝 (kozatohen on the left, ōzato on the right) has 3 strokes in Japan: a bent line at the top, a curved line below it, and the vertical line. 院 has 10 and 都 has 11. If you learned characters in Chinese, note that the Chinese standard writes 阝 in 2 strokes, so 院 is 9 strokes there. The character is the same, but the count follows the Japanese way of writing it.

艹 (the grass radical) has 3 strokes: one horizontal and two verticals. 花 has 7 and 草 has 9.

糸 (the thread radical) has 6 strokes. 糸 itself has 6, and 紙 has 10. The top part, which looks like two く shapes stacked, is two bent strokes. Count it as three or four and the total goes up.

女 (woman) has 3 strokes: a く-shaped line, a sweep to the left, and a horizontal. 姉 has 8.

Characters whose shape is confusing

臣 has 7. It is easy to count as 6.
成 has 6. It is easy to count as 7.
印 has 6.
比 has 4 and 北 has 5. They look alike, but the counts differ.
飛 and 発 both have 9. Their small dots and lines make it hard to see where one stroke ends.

For these, the surest check is to look at the numbered diagram and then write the character once yourself, counting as you go.

Learn stroke count together with stroke order

One approach is to learn stroke count with stroke order, not separately. The count is a result of the order. If you know the order, you get the count just by writing and counting. If the order is vague, you cannot tell where one stroke ends.

The rules of stroke order are in Kanji Stroke Order Rules.

Why counting correctly helps

First, it lets you use a kanji dictionary. Japanese kanji dictionaries have an index by total stroke count. When you don’t know a character’s reading or radical, the stroke count is what you search by. Even in the radical index, characters under each radical are listed by their remaining strokes.

Second, it makes you look at the shape properly. To count strokes, you have to see where each line begins and ends. Once you notice that the top and right of 口 are one stroke, you also start writing that line without breaking it.

When dictionaries seem to disagree

You may see different numbers in different places. A few reasons:

Radical counts and in-character counts. Many kanji dictionaries use the traditional radical system, in which 艹 belongs under 艸 (6 strokes), 辶 under 辵 (7) and 阝 on the left under 阜 (8). It is easy to confuse these radical numbers with the stroke count inside the character. The total stroke count a dictionary gives for a character is normally counted in its current form.

Japanese and Chinese counts. As with 阝 above, some components are written in a different number of strokes in Japan and in mainland China. When you study Japanese kanji, use the Japanese count.

Checking stroke counts on this site

The stroke order pages on this site cover the 1,026 kanji taught in Japanese elementary schools.

From the top page, choose a grade.
Choose a character from that grade’s list.
The 画数 row in the table on the character’s page shows the stroke count.
The diagram above it numbers each stroke. Follow the numbers and write the character yourself as you count.

Tracing stroke order in KanjiN

KanjiN is a kanji app for iPhone and iPad where you answer by handwriting. You don’t tap answers. You write them on the screen with a finger or a pen, and the app reads your handwriting.

In the Stroke Order Drill, you trace the strokes in order to learn the shape. Because you trace one stroke at a time, it also trains you to count as you write. When you finish, the app compares your writing with the model and gives a score. After that, the Writing Drill asks you to recall and write the kanji from its reading alone.

Besides school grades 1 to 6 and Kanken levels 10 to 5, you can practice JLPT N5 to N3 kanji. Today’s Drill, Today’s Challenge and the 10-question Skill Check are free. A one-time purchase, Unlock Everything, opens every drill, with no ads and no subscription. The first time you use it, the app downloads what it needs to read handwriting, so you need an internet connection then.

How radicals sit inside a kanji is covered in Learning Kanji by Radicals, and a comparison with other ways of studying is in KanjiN vs Other Ways to Practice Kanji.