KanjiPad

Kanji for Family —

Copy the character and paste it anywhere.
N410 strokes

What 家 means

家 is read ie or uchi on its own and ka or ke in compounds. It means house — the building — and by extension the household and the family line living in it. The word Japanese normally uses for family in conversation is 家族 (kazoku), 家 plus 族 (clan, tribe).

The character is a roof with a pig underneath it: livestock kept inside the dwelling, the oldest sign of a settled home. Ten strokes, and the roof element 宀 at the top reappears in 安 (peace of mind), 守 (protect) and 宅 (residence).

家 also marks a person who has mastered something — 作家 (sakka) is an author, 画家 (gaka) a painter, 音楽家 (ongakuka) a musician. And 実家 (jikka), your parents' house, is the word people use for the place they go home to at New Year.

Readings

home, house, family
Kun
On

Stroke order

Write 家 in 10 strokes, following the tiles above in order — top to bottom, left to right.

家 as a tattoo

For a family tattoo, 家 alone reads first as “house”, which can feel oddly literal; 家族 (kazoku) is unambiguously “family” and is the safer choice if the meaning matters more than the single-character look. Either way, get the proportions right — the roof has to sit wide enough over the body of the character. Draw it on our board to compare with the animation above, and read the kanji tattoo guide before you decide between one character and two.

Words with 家

Keep exploring

Practice writing 家 stroke by stroke, with spaced repetition and quizzes, in the app.