# 辛 — spicy; hardship

辛 means “spicy; hardship”. It is a JLPT N2 kanji written with 7 strokes. On'yomi: シン (shin). Kun'yomi: から(い) (karai), つら(い) (tsurai), かのと (kanoto). You'll see it in words such as 辛い (karai, “spicy; hot”).

- Meaning: spicy; hardship
- On'yomi: シン (shin)
- Kun'yomi: から(い) (karai), つら(い) (tsurai), かのと (kanoto)
- Strokes: 7
- Level: JLPT N2 · set Food & cooking 2

## How to remember 辛

Parts: 立 stand · 十 ten; cross

## Words with 辛

| Word | Reading | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 辛い | からい (karai) | spicy; hot |

## Don't confuse it with

[幸](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/happiness/) · [宰](https://moji.ninja/n1-kanji/preside-over/)

## More in the “Food & cooking 2” set

[滋](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/nourishing/) · [辛](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/spicy/) · [菓](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/sweets/) · [鍋](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/pot/) · [丼](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/rice-bowl/) · [餅](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/rice-cake/) · [箸](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/chopsticks/)

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