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県 (けん) Japanese meaning | Kotomora
Common word JLPT N4 Freq. Frequency Top 200 Meanings 1
noun, noun, used as a suffix
prefecture ; county ; department ; province
In Japan, refers to one of the 47 prefectures (e.g., 東京都, 大阪府, 北海道 are not 県). Outside Japan, used for administrative divisions such as counties in China/Taiwan, departments in France, or provinces in Italy/Spain. Often used as a suffix (e.g., 神奈川県).
Written forms 県けん Usage 100%
Standard modern kanji for prefecture/county. The reading けん is the only modern reading.
縣けん Usage <1%
out-dated kanji form
Old-style kanji (kyūjitai) for 県; not used in modern Japanese except in historical contexts.
より
小ちい
さい
行ぎょう
政せい
区く
分ぶん
です
。
Counties in China are smaller administrative divisions than prefectures in Japan.
county, district, subdivision
Similar words 都と Used for Tokyo (東京都), a metropolitan prefecture with special status.
道どう Used only for Hokkaido (北海道), a regional prefecture.
府ふ Used for Osaka and Kyoto (大阪府, 京都府), urban prefectures.
州しゅう Refers to states (e.g., US, Australia) or provinces in some countries, not used for Japanese prefectures.
Etymology From Chinese 縣/县 (xiàn, 'county'). Adopted in Japan as an administrative unit name; the modern kanji 県 is a simplified form of 縣.
