手 — Hand

Meaning

手 means hand — a Grade 1 kanji that children learn in their first year of school and that adults use every single day. At its core it refers to the physical hand, but the meaning stretches to cover skill, technique, means, and even a person in a role (a worker, a player, an opponent).

Etymologically, 手 is a pictograph. Oracle bone inscriptions show five fingers spreading from a palm; centuries of use compressed that image into the four clean strokes we write today. The horizontal strokes represent the fingers; the vertical curved stroke traces the palm down to the wrist.

Four strokes make 手 one of the simplest kanji you will encounter, yet it punches well above its weight. It appears in dozens of everyday compound words and doubles as a radical (部首) inside kanji like 打 (to hit), 持 (to hold), and 投 (to throw) — all actions performed with the hand.

In Vietnamese, the Sino-Vietnamese reading is THỦ, which shows up in thủ công (handicraft), thủ thuật (technique / surgery), and thủ môn (goalkeeper). That shared root gives Vietnamese learners a ready-made hook for both the meaning and the on'yomi シュ.

Readings

On'yomi (音読み) — Chinese-derived readings

手 has two on'yomi. シュ dominates in everyday compound words; ズ survives in only a handful of fixed expressions.

シュ (shu) — The primary on'yomi, found in most jukugo. You will meet it regularly in formal and practical vocabulary.

• 手術しゅじゅつ (shujutsu) — surgery, operation
• 手段しゅだん (shudan) — means, method, measure
• 手動しゅどう (shudou) — manual operation
• 握手あくしゅ (akushu) — handshake

ズ (zu) — A contracted on'yomi that appears in a small set of words, typically older or fixed expressions.

• 上手じょうず (jouzu) — skilled, good at something

Kun'yomi (訓読み) — Native Japanese readings

て is the reading you will reach for in everyday conversation. た is limited to a few set compounds where the sound has been contracted over time.

て (te) — Used constantly in spoken Japanese. It means "hand" directly and seeds many natural compound words.

• 手紙てがみ (tegami) — letter (written by hand)
• 手伝うてつだう (tetsudau) — to help, to assist
• 手洗いてあらい (tearai) — handwashing, restroom
• 手袋てぶくろ (tebukuro) — gloves (literally "hand bag")

た (ta) — Never used in isolation; surfaces only inside fixed compound words.

• 手繰るたぐる (taguru) — to pull in hand over hand
• 手綱たづな (tazuna) — reins (for a horse)
• 下手へた (heta) — unskilled, poor at something

Common Words & Compounds

手 turns up across a wide range of vocabulary. The groups below cover the words most worth learning first.

Body & Action:

• 右手みぎて (migite) — right hand
• 左手ひだりて (hidarite) — left hand
• 両手りょうて (ryoute) — both hands
• 手首てくび (tekubi) — wrist (literally "hand neck")

Skill & Ability:

• 上手じょうず (jouzu) — skilled, good at
• 下手へた (heta) — unskilled, poor at
• 得手えて (ete) — one's forte, strong point
• 手腕しゅわん (shuwan) — ability, skill, capability

Daily Life:

• 手紙てがみ (tegami) — letter
• 手帳てちょう (techou) — notebook, planner
• 手料理てりょうり (teryouri) — home-cooked meal
• 手洗いてあらい (tearai) — restroom, handwashing

Work & Interaction:

• 手伝うてつだう (tetsudau) — to help
• 握手あくしゅ (akushu) — handshake
• 拍手はくしゅ (hakushu) — applause, clapping
• 手術しゅじゅつ (shujutsu) — surgery

Example Sentences

Related Kanji

• 気 — Spirit, Energy, Air (Kanji N5)
• 目 — Eye (Kanji N5)
• 白 — White, Blank, Pure (Kanji N5)
• 生 — Life, Birth, Raw (Kanji N5)
• 下 — Below, Down (Kanji N5)
• 木 — Tree, Wood (Kanji N5)

Memory Tip

Picture 手 as a side view of a hand: the top horizontal stroke is the fingers reaching out, and the curved vertical stroke is the palm flowing down to the wrist. That's not just a trick — in ancient oracle bone script this really was a drawing of a spread hand. Picture someone raising their hand to answer a question: te = raised hand.

For Vietnamese learners, anchor it to THỦ — picture thủ công (handicraft, work done by hand). Every time you see 手, think "THỦ — made by hand." For the on'yomi シュ, thủ thuật (technique, surgery) is your bridge: 手術しゅじゅつ (shujutsu) is literally that same word in Japanese.