# 故 — accident; the late; reason

故 means “accident; the late; reason”. It is a JLPT N2 kanji written with 9 strokes. On'yomi: コ (ko). Kun'yomi: ゆえ (yue).

- Meaning: accident; the late; reason
- On'yomi: コ (ko)
- Kun'yomi: ゆえ (yue)
- Strokes: 9
- Level: JLPT N2 · set Big ideas

## How to remember 故

Sounds like 古: both read コ.

Parts: 古 old · 攵 pointer

## Don't confuse it with

[敬](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/respect/)

## More in the “Big ideas” set

[故](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/accident/) · [因](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/cause/) · [節](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/joint/) · [偶](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/accidentally/)

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From Moji Ninja (https://moji.ninja/), a free app for learning hiragana, katakana and the JLPT kanji from N5 to N1 with spaced repetition. Page: https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/accident/. Last updated 2026-11-01.