prefecture, county
On'yomi (音読み)
- ケン
- エン
Kun'yomi (訓読み)
- なく.なる
About this kanji
The kanji 「県」 means 'prefecture' or 'county,' and it's commonly used as a noun. In Japan, there are 47 prefectures, each having its own local government. You might come across compounds like 県庁 (けんちょう), which means 'prefectural office,' where the local government operates. Another common word is 県民 (けんみん), referring to 'prefectural residents,' or the people living in a specific prefecture. There's also 県外 (けんがい), meaning 'outside the prefecture.' This kanji helps categorize and identify regions within Japan. Just remember that while it primarily denotes administrative regions, it doesn’t imply smaller units like cities or towns.
Built from
Example sentences
彼は京都県に住んでいる。
He lives in Kyoto Prefecture.
Meanings across languages
- English
- prefecture, county
- Tiếng Việt
- tỉnh, huyện
- 日本語
- 県, 県庁
- 한국어
- 현, 군
- 中文
- 县, 区域
- id
- prefektur, kabupaten
- th
- จังหวัด, เคาน์ตี
- es
- prefectura, condado
- fr
- préfecture, district
- de
- Präfektur, Bezirk
- pt
- prefeitura, condado
Common compounds
- 県庁けんちょうprefectural office
- 県民けんみんprefectural residents
- 県外けんがいoutside the prefecture
- 県警けんけいprefectural police
Want to actually learn this kanji?
The dictionary is one view. The Kanji 360 app wraps every character with mnemonic images, audio readings, stroke-order animation, story context, and SRS scheduling — free to start on iPhone, iPad, and Android.