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Kotomora

江

creek, inlet, bay

JLPTN1StatusJōyō · secondary schoolFrequencyTop 1,000Strokes6

Readings

On'yomi

  • コウ

Kun'yomi

  • え

Nanori

  • くん
  • とうみ
  • み
  • りえ

Meaning

江 centers on a body of water that is a smaller offshoot of a larger one: a creek, inlet, or bay. It describes a water feature that branches inward from a river or sea.

Most common words using 江

20 of 84
  • 江戸えど

    Edo (shogunate capital; former name of Tokyo); Yedo

  • 江え

    inlet; bay

  • 堀江ほりえ

    canal

  • 近江おうみ

    Ōmi (former province located in present-day Shiga Prefecture)

  • 松江まつえ

    Matsue (city in Shimane)

  • 入り江いりえ

    inlet; cove; creek; bay

  • 江上こうじょう

    (on the) bank of a large river

  • 江頭こうとう

    riverbank (esp. the Yangtze River)

  • 江戸城えどじょう

    Edo Castle (residence of the Shogun during the Edo period, now the site of the Tokyo Imperial Palace)

  • 長江ちょうこう

    Yangtze River (China); Changjiang River

  • 江戸前えどまえ

    Tokyo style

  • 揚子江ようすこう

    Yangtze River (China)

  • 遠江とおとうみ

    Tōtōmi (former province located in the west of present-day Shizuoka Prefecture)

  • 江村こうそん

    village along a (large) river

  • 江戸っ子えどっこ

    (true) Tokyoite; Edoite; Tokyo native; Edokko

  • 江戸時代えどじだい

    Edo period (1603-1868)

  • 三角江さんかくこう

    estuary

  • 入り江わにいりえわに

    saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus); estuarine crocodile

  • 大江戸線おおえどせん

    Ōedo Line

  • 小江戸こえど

    Little Edo; town or neighbourhood with an old townscape reminiscent of Edo

Explore all words using 江 →

Study

Etymology

江 combines the water radical 氵 with 工, which likely contributes the sound. The character originally referred to a specific river (the Yangtze) and later broadened to mean a creek or inlet.

Meaning mnemonic

The water radical 氵 beside 工 suggests a constructed waterway: imagine a man-made channel (工 as work) that branches off a river, forming a small creek or inlet.

Reading mnemonic

For コウ, picture a calm cove (a small bay) where the water is still: cove -> コウ, and the inlet is a peaceful cove off the main river.