Meaning
彫 (chō) means carving, engraving, or sculpting — cutting into wood, stone, or metal to shape it. Picture a craftsman at a shrine gate, working a chisel through dense cedar to free a dragon from the grain. Patient, deliberate, physical work. That's what this kanji is about.
The two components spell it out. The right side, 彡 (san), represents decorative strokes — those three slash-like lines suggest the marks a blade leaves behind. The left side, 周 (shū), means "all around" or "circumference." Together: marks made all around a surface, shaping it from every angle. The 彡 radical turns up in other kanji tied to ornamentation and artistic detail, so its presence here is deliberate.
彫 has 11 strokes and belongs to the grade-8 extended Joyo list, which is why it sits at JLPT N1. It rarely comes up in casual conversation — but read about art history, traditional crafts, temple architecture, or Japanese cultural heritage, and you'll run into it constantly.
Readings
On'yomi (音読み) — Chinese-derived readings
チョウ (chō) is the on'yomi, used almost exclusively in compound words. Museum labels, art criticism, history textbooks — that's where this reading lives. Core compounds:
- 彫刻 (chōkoku) — sculpture, carving, engraving; the compound you'll see most often
- 彫刻家 (chōkokuka) — sculptor; a professional who works in carved or sculpted form
- 彫像 (chōzō) — carved statue; a three-dimensional figure shaped by carving
- 彫塑 (chōso) — sculpture as an art form, covering both subtractive methods (carving) and additive ones (modeling)
- 彫金 (chōkin) — metal engraving; decorative patterns cut into metal surfaces
Kun'yomi (訓読み) — Native Japanese readings
The native verb is ほ.る (ho.ru) — to carve, to engrave. The dot marks where okurigana begins: る changes with conjugation (彫った hotta, 彫って hotte, 彫らない horanai). Key words:
- 彫る (horu) — to carve, to engrave, to chisel
- 彫り物 (horimono) — a carving; also the classical word for Japanese tattoos, since both involve etching designs into a surface
- 木彫り (kibori) — wood carving; one of Japan's most enduring folk crafts
- 浮き彫り (ukibori) — relief carving; designs raised above a flat background. Used figuratively to mean bringing something into sharp focus
- 彫り師 (horishi) — a carver or traditional tattoo artist
Common Words & Compounds
彫 runs through vocabulary spanning traditional arts, material techniques, and figurative speech.
Art and Sculpture:
- 彫刻 (chōkoku) — sculpture, engraving
- 彫刻家 (chōkokuka) — sculptor
- 彫像 (chōzō) — carved statue
- 彫塑 (chōso) — sculpture as an art discipline
- 彫金 (chōkin) — metal engraving; a prized Japanese craft tradition
Materials and Techniques:
- 木彫り (kibori) — wood carving
- 石彫り (ishibori) — stone carving
- 浮き彫り (ukibori) — relief carving
- 毛彫り (kebori) — hairline engraving; extremely fine cuts, often used for delicate detail work
- 透し彫り (sukashibori) — openwork carving; the pattern is cut all the way through the material, leaving a lacy negative space
Culture and Tradition:
- 彫り物 (horimono) — carving; also the classical term for Japanese tattoos, reflecting the artisanal roots of body art
- 彫り師 (horishi) — carver or traditional tattoo artist
- 木彫像 (mokuchōzō) — wooden carved statue; common in temple and museum contexts
Example Sentences
この神社の門には美しい彫刻が施されている。
Kono jinja no mon ni wa utsukushii chōkoku ga hodokosarete iru.
The gate of this shrine is adorned with beautiful carvings.
彼は木に花の模様を彫った。
Kare wa ki ni hana no moyō wo hotta.
He carved a flower pattern into the wood.
有名な彫刻家が新しい作品を発表した。
Yūmei na chōkokuka ga atarashii sakuhin wo happyō shita.
A famous sculptor unveiled a new work.
祖父は木彫りの熊を作ることが得意だった。
Sofu wa kibori no kuma wo tsukuru koto ga tokui datta.
My grandfather was skilled at making wood-carved bears.
この事件は社会の矛盾を浮き彫りにした。
Kono jiken wa shakai no mujun wo ukibori ni shita.
This incident brought the contradictions of society into sharp relief.
彼女は石に名前を彫るのに三時間もかかった。
Kanojo wa ishi ni namae wo horu no ni san-jikan mo kakatta.
It took her a full three hours to carve the name into the stone.
博物館には江戸時代の木彫像が展示されている。
Hakubutsukan ni wa Edo-jidai no mokuchōzō ga tenji sarete iru.
The museum displays wooden carved statues from the Edo period.
職人が丁寧に金属に模様を彫り込んでいる。
Shokunin ga teinei ni kinzoku ni moyō wo horikonde iru.
The craftsman is carefully carving a pattern into the metal.
彫刻の授業で、粘土を使って人物像を作った。
Chōkoku no jugyō de, nendo wo tsukatte jinbutsuzō wo tsukutta.
In sculpture class, I made a human figure using clay.
その彫り師は一本の木から観音像を彫り出した。
Sono horishi wa ippon no ki kara Kannonzō wo horidashita.
That carver produced a statue of Kannon from a single piece of wood.
Memory Tip
Look at the right side of 彫: three diagonal slash marks — 彡. Those are the cuts a blade leaves behind. The left side, 周, means "all around." A craftsman working his chisel around a block, leaving marks (彡) wherever the blade passes — the kanji is its own picture.
The compound 彫刻 is worth anchoring separately. Both characters mean carve: 彫 (working all around a surface) + 刻 (notching, engraving). Two carving words fused into one. Next time you see chōkoku on a museum label, picture a sculptor's workshop — mallet, chisel, cedar dust on the floor — and the reading will stick.