Meet 京 in 東京 and 京都. The examples connect each word’s reading with a useful context.

The idea

京 has 8 strokes; follow their order in the linked KanjiVG diagram. Learn 東京（とうきょう） and 京都（きょうと） as complete words: a character’s reading depends on the word.

Patterns to compare
Japanese wordReadingExample in context
東京とうきょうI go to Tokyo by bullet train.
京都きょうとI visited a temple in Kyoto.
上京じょうきょうIn spring I will go to Tokyo and enter university.
東京駅とうきょうえきI met a friend at Tokyo Station.

Examples

  • 東京とうきょうまで新幹線しんかんせんで行いきます。I go to Tokyo by bullet train.
  • 東京とうきょうには友達ともだちが住すんでいます。I have a friend who lives in Tokyo.
  • 京都きょうとのお寺てらを訪たずねました。I visited a temple in Kyoto.
  • 京都きょうとで古ふるい町並まちなみを歩あるきました。I walked through an old streetscape in Kyoto.
  • 春はるに上京じょうきょうして、大学だいがくに入はいります。In spring I will go to Tokyo and enter university.
  • 東京駅とうきょうえきで友達ともだちに会あいました。I met a friend at Tokyo Station.

Read-aloud uses a synthetic Japanese voice available on your device. Voice quality and availability vary; it does not assess your pronunciation.

Watch out

東京 is Tokyo and 京都 is Kyoto: the characters and order differ. 上京 means going to Tokyo, often to live or study there. Compare the shapes of 京 and 高; they are different characters.

Try it yourself

  1. Write the reading of 東京 in hiragana.

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    とうきょう

    東京 is read とうきょう. In context: I go to Tokyo by bullet train.

  2. Write the reading of 京都 in hiragana.

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    きょうと

    京都 is read きょうと. In context: I visited a temple in Kyoto.

  3. Write the missing kanji: 東＿（とうきょう）.

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    京

    京 completes 東京, read とうきょう. In context: I go to Tokyo by bullet train.

Use it today

Cover the table, write 京 from memory, read 東京 and 京都 aloud, then make a sentence with one of them.