肉

Meat / Flesh

JLPT N5 6 strokes Food 月 radical (nikuzuki)

Stroke Order

#DescriptionDirection
1
 Left vertical Top to bottom, left side
2
 Top horizontal Left to right across the top
3
 Right vertical Top to bottom, right side
4
 Upper inner bar Left to right, upper interior
5
 Lower inner bar Left to right, lower interior
6
 Bottom horizontal Left to right, closing the frame

Stroke Animation

The 月 (nikuzuki) radical — meat hiding as moon
When 肉 appears as a left-side radical in other kanji it is written as 月 — identical to the moon radical (月, tsukizuki). Context tells them apart: nikuzuki (肉月) signals body parts, flesh, or physical states; tsukizuki (月) signals time or moon. This is one of the most productive radicals in Japanese — once you recognise it, dozens of body-related kanji become guessable.
腕ude · arm
脚ashi · leg
脳nō · brain
胃i · stomach
肩kata · shoulder
背se · back
Kun'yomi (Japanese)
にく
niku
Meat — used standalone: にくが食べたい (I want to eat meat). Also in compounds where the reading stays にく
On'yomi (Chinese-derived)
ニク
niku
Identical sound to kun'yomi — rare for Japanese. On'yomi applies in compounds: 肉体 (nikutai), 筋肉 (kin'niku), 牛肉 (gyūniku)
Mandarin Chinese
ròu
ròu (4th tone — falling)
猪肉 (zhūròu) — pork; 牛肉 (niúròu) — beef; 鸡肉 (jīròu) — chicken. The 肉 pattern for meat types mirrors Japanese usage
Reading note
にく = ニク
kun'yomi = on'yomi
One of the few kanji where both readings are phonetically identical. No need to memorise two different sounds — just にく in all contexts

Example Words

肉
にく (niku)
Meat (general)
牛肉
ぎゅうにく (gyūniku)
Beef (cow + meat)
豚肉
ぶたにく (butaniku)
Pork (pig + meat)
鶏肉
とりにく (toriniku)
Chicken (bird + meat)
筋肉
きんにく (kin'niku)
Muscle
肉体
にくたい (nikutai)
The physical body / flesh
焼肉
やきにく (yakiniku)
Grilled meat (Korean BBQ style) — a word you'll definitely need in Japan
肉じゃが
にくじゃが (nikujaga)
Meat and potato stew — classic Japanese home cooking