城 — “castle” in Japanese

Grade 6じょう, しろ

Radical ⼟ · radical 32 The building block this kanji is filed under

“castle” in Japanese is 城, read jou, shiro (じょう, しろ). It is a Grade 6 Kyōiku kanji, taught in year 6 of Japanese elementary school, and appears in words such as 城下町 (castle town).

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What does 城 mean?

Full details, readings & example

Kanji	城
Meaning	castle
Readings	じょう, しろ
Grade	Grade 6 (Hardest)
Curriculum	Kyōiku kanji · Japanese elementary school
Example	城下町 (castle town)

How to read 城

城 is read jou (じょう) or shiro (しろ) depending on the word.

Words with 城

茨城県
城下町

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Kanji read the same way as 城

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Updated: 2026-08-28