Explore 航 in journeys by sea and air, connecting each reading to a complete word.

The idea

航 has ten strokes and is read こう in 航海（こうかい）, 航空（こうくう）, 航行（こうこう） and 運航（うんこう）. Use the linked diagram for stroke order.

Examples

  • 船ふねは島しまに向むかって航行こうこうしています。The ship is sailing toward the island.
  • 航空便こうくうびんの時刻表じこくひょうを確認かくにんしました。I checked the flight schedule.
  • 台風たいふうで飛行機ひこうきが運航うんこうを休止きゅうししました。The plane suspended operations because of the typhoon.
  • 兄あには航空会社こうくうがいしゃで働はたらいています。My brother works for an airline.
  • 船ふねは無事ぶじに航海こうかいを続つづけました。The ship continued its voyage safely.
  • 航空機こうくうきが海うみの上うえを飛とびました。The aircraft flew over the sea.

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

Watch out

航海 is a sea voyage; 航空 concerns aviation. 運航 refers to operating ships or aircraft, whereas 運行 commonly refers to running land transport.

Try it yourself

  1. Write the reading of 航海 in hiragana.

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    こうかい

    航海 is こうかい: a voyage by sea. Learn its reading with the whole word.

  2. Write the reading of 航空 in hiragana.

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    こうくう

    航空 is こうくう: aviation. The long vowels belong in both syllables.

  3. Choose the missing kanji: 運＿（うんこう、飛行機）［航／行］.

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    航

    航 makes 運航（うんこう）, used for aircraft or ship operations.

Use it today

Write 航 using the diagram, then cover the examples and read 航海 and 航空. Make a sentence with one.