頭 — “head” in Japanese

Grade 2とう, ず, あたま, かしら

Radical ⾴ · radical 181 The building block this kanji is filed under

“head” in Japanese is 頭, read tou, zu, atama (とう, ず, あたま, かしら). It is a Grade 2 Kyōiku kanji, taught in year 2 of Japanese elementary school, and appears in words such as 頭脳 (brains/intellect).

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What does 頭 mean?

Full details, readings & example

Kanji	頭
Meaning	head
Readings	とう, ず, あたま, かしら
Grade	Grade 2 (Easy)
Curriculum	Kyōiku kanji · Japanese elementary school
Example	頭脳 (brains/intellect)

How to read 頭

頭 is read tou (とう) or zu (ず) or atama (あたま) or kashira (かしら) depending on the word.

Words with 頭

台頭たいとう
頭脳
頭痛
没頭

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Kanji read the same way as 頭

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Updated: 2026-08-28