拉 — “Latin / Kidnap / Crush” in Japanese

Master (高手)らつ, ら, ろう, らっ, ひし, くだ

Radical ⼿ · radical 64 The building block this kanji is filed under

“Latin / Kidnap / Crush” in Japanese is 拉, read ratsu, ra, rou (らつ, ら, ろう, らっ, ひし, くだ). It is a Jōyō kanji taught in Japanese secondary school (junior & senior high) — the 高手 · Master tier beyond the grade 1–6 Kyōiku set, and appears in words such as 拉致 (abduction).

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What does 拉 mean?

Full details, readings & example

Kanji	拉
Meaning	Latin / Kidnap / Crush
Readings	らつ, ら, ろう, らっ, ひし, くだ
Grade	Master (高手 · secondary school)
Curriculum	Jōyō kanji · Japanese secondary school (JLPT N1–N2)
Example	拉致 (abduction)

How to read 拉

拉 is read ratsu (らつ) or ra (ら) or rou (ろう) or ra (らっ) or hishi (ひし) or kuda (くだ) depending on the word.

Words with 拉

拉致

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Kanji read the same way as 拉

Same sound, different character — the classic trap. Compare them side by side:

Updated: 2026-08-28