# 照 — shine; illuminate

照 means “shine; illuminate”. It is a JLPT N2 kanji written with 13 strokes. On'yomi: ショウ (shou). Kun'yomi: て(る) (teru). You'll see it in words such as 照る (teru, “to shine”).

- Meaning: shine; illuminate
- On'yomi: ショウ (shou)
- Kun'yomi: て(る) (teru)
- Strokes: 13
- Level: JLPT N2 · set Fire & light

## How to remember 照

Sounds like 昭: both read ショウ.

Parts: 昭 shining · 灬 fire

## Words with 照

| Word | Reading | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 照る | てる (teru) | to shine |
| 照らす | てらす (terasu) | to shine on; to illuminate |
| 照れる | てれる (tereru) | to be shy; to be bashful |

## Don't confuse it with

[唱](https://moji.ninja/n1-kanji/chant/)

## More in the “Fire & light” set

[熱](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/heat/) · [燃](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/burn/) · [焼](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/bake/) · [照](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/shine/) · [煙](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/smoke/) · [灯](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/lamp/) · [灰](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/ash/)

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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/shine/. Last updated 2026-11-01.