Meaning
拷 means torture, flogging, and beating — coercive physical punishment used to extract confessions or information from prisoners. Today, this character appears almost exclusively in 拷問 (gōmon), meaning "torture" or "the third degree." Its usage is confined to legal documents, historical writing, human rights journalism, and crime fiction.
拷 combines two components: 扌, the hand radical (a compressed form of 手, hand), on the left, and 考 (to think, to reconsider) on the right. The pairing is pointed — a hand forcing someone to reconsider through pain. 扌 marks the action as physical; 考 contributes the ゴウ reading and the concept of compelled deliberation under duress.
拷 takes 9 strokes: 3 for 扌 and 6 for 考. It is a Jōyō kanji at the secondary school level — not assigned to any elementary grade, but expected knowledge for literate Japanese adults. Its JLPT N1 classification reflects how formal and specialized its usage domain is.
Readings
On'yomi (音読み) — Chinese-derived readings
拷 has one on'yomi: ゴウ (gō). Derived from Middle Chinese, this is the only reading used in modern compounds. It mirrors the コウ reading of its right-hand component 考, shifted to ゴウ by voicing — a common pattern in Sino-Japanese phonology. In practice, ゴウ appears almost entirely within 拷問 and its derivatives.
Key compounds using ゴウ:
- 拷問 (gōmon) — torture; severe physical or psychological coercion used during interrogation to extract a confession
- 拷問室 (gōmon-shitsu) — torture chamber; a room designated for coercive interrogation
- 拷訊 (gōjin) — interrogation under torture; an archaic term found in classical legal texts
Kun'yomi (訓読み) — Native Japanese readings
拷 has no kun'yomi. This is common for kanji that entered Japanese through Classical Chinese legal and administrative texts. Native Japanese expresses striking and hitting through 打つ (utsu) and 叩く (tataku) — neither uses 拷. The on'yomi ゴウ is all a learner needs.
Common Words & Compounds
拷 covers a narrow semantic field, which makes it manageable to master. The compounds below cover nearly everything you will encounter in legal texts, journalism, historical accounts of Edo-period justice, and crime fiction.
Core compound and derivatives:
- 拷問 (gōmon) — torture; the single most important compound using this kanji
- 拷問する (gōmon suru) — to torture someone; suru-verb form
- 拷問室 (gōmon-shitsu) — torture chamber; frequently cited in historical and literary contexts
- 拷問者 (gōmon-sha) — torturer; the person administering torture
- 拷問被害者 (gōmon higaisha) — victim of torture; standard phrasing in human rights reporting
Legal and international contexts:
- 拷問禁止条約 (gōmon kinshi jōyaku) — the Convention Against Torture; the UN treaty prohibiting torture, adopted 1984, ratified by Japan 1999
- 拷問等禁止条約 (gōmon-tō kinshi jōyaku) — the full formal Japanese name of the treaty, covering "other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment" as well
Historical and literary usage:
- 拷訊 (gōjin) — interrogation by torture; found in Edo-period legal documents and pre-modern literature describing judicial practices
- 水拷 (mizugō) — water torture; a historical interrogation method referenced in older accounts of samurai-era law enforcement
In contemporary Japanese, 拷問 appears in news coverage of international human rights violations, academic discussion of UN treaty obligations, and crime thrillers as a dramatic plot element.
Example Sentences
その囚人は拷問を受けたが、何も話さなかった。
Sono shūjin wa gōmon wo uketa ga, nani mo hanasanakatta.
The prisoner was tortured but said nothing.
拷問は国際法によって厳しく禁止されている。
Gōmon wa kokusaihō ni yotte kibishiku kinshi sarete iru.
Torture is strictly prohibited under international law.
その小説には中世の拷問室の描写が含まれていた。
Sono shōsetsu ni wa chūsei no gōmon-shitsu no byōsha ga fukumarete ita.
The novel contained a description of a medieval torture chamber.
人権団体は拷問の廃絶を求めて活動している。
Jinken dantai wa gōmon no haizetsu wo motomete katsudō shite iru.
Human rights organizations are campaigning for the complete abolition of torture.
江戸時代には、拷問が公式の取調べ手段として使われていた。
Edo jidai ni wa, gōmon ga kōshiki no torishirabe shudan to shite tsukawarete ita.
During the Edo period, torture was used as an official interrogation method.
その刑事は拷問なしに容疑者を説得して自白させた。
Sono keiji wa gōmon nashi ni yōgisha wo settoku shite jihaku saseta.
The detective got the suspect to confess without resorting to torture.
国連の拷問禁止条約は1984年に採択された。
Kokuren no gōmon kinshi jōyaku wa sen-kyūhyaku-hachijūyon-nen ni saitaku sareta.
The United Nations Convention Against Torture was adopted in 1984.
拷問によって得られた自白は証拠として認められない。
Gōmon ni yotte erareta jihaku wa shōko to shite mitomerarenai.
Confessions obtained through torture are not admissible as evidence.
その国では、政治犯に対する拷問が組織的に行われていたと報告されている。
Sono kuni de wa, seijihan ni taisuru gōmon ga soshikiteki ni okonawarete ita to hōkoku sarete iru.
Reports indicate that torture of political prisoners was carried out systematically in that country.
Memory Tip
Look at 拷's structure: 扌 (hand) on the left, 考 (to reconsider) on the right. Picture a hand forcing a prisoner to reconsider their silence — through pain. That image captures exactly what the kanji means. For the sound: 考 reads コウ, which shifts to ゴウ by voicing. The pronunciation comes free with the component. Once you see 扌 (hand) + 考 (forced to reconsider), 拷問 sticks.