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蚕
Kyōiku Kanji

蚕 — “silkworm” in Japanese

Grade 6さん, かいこ
Radical ⾍ · radical 142 The building block this kanji is filed under

“silkworm” in Japanese is 蚕, read san, kaiko (さん, かいこ). It is a Grade 6 Kyōiku kanji, taught in year 6 of Japanese elementary school, and appears in words such as 養蚕 (silkworm raising).

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What does 蚕 mean?

Full details, readings & example
Kanji蚕
Meaningsilkworm
Readingsさん, かいこ
GradeGrade 6 (Hardest)
CurriculumKyōiku kanji · Japanese elementary school
Example養蚕 (silkworm raising)

How to read 蚕

蚕 is read san (さん) or kaiko (かいこ) depending on the word.

Words with 蚕

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Kanji read the same way as 蚕

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

Updated: 2026-08-28
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