This site will be taken down March 31st, 2026.

This was not an easy decision to make. For the last couple years, I have been struggling to find motivation for this site and to keep up with basic maintenance and security updates. With the rise of AI and more sophisticated tools, the usefulness of sites like this is questionable and traffic has nose-dived. I just don't have it in me to keep doing this. Thank you all for 10 years of support!

Zach

Readings

Kana: ソウ、ショウ、こと
Romaji: sou, shō, koto
Kana
Romaji

Meaning

koto

Stroke Diagram

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Kanji Info

Stroke Count:  12
Radical Number:  118
Frequency: 
Grade: 
Skip Pattern:  2-6-6
Korean Reading:  jaeng
Chinese Reading:  zheng1
Unicode:  7b5d
JIS:  6438

Indexes

New Nelson Index: 4273
Spahn Hadamitzky Index: 6f8.10
Four Corner Index: 8850.7

Words

(こと、そう)
koto (13-stringed Japanese zither); stringed instrument; zheng (Chinese zither); guzheng
箏曲 (そうきょく)
koto music
古筝 (こそう)
Guzheng (type of ancient Chinese zither)
琴柱 (ことじ)
bridge of a koto
楽箏 (がくそう)
ancient type of koto with 13 strings used in Gagaku music
俗箏 (ぞくそう)
modern koto (in contrast to the gagaku koto or gakuso); modern koto music
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