# 科 — academic subject; department

科 means “academic subject; department”. It is a JLPT N3 kanji written with 9 strokes. On'yomi: カ (ka). It has no common kun'yomi. You'll see it in words such as 科 (ka, “department”).

- Meaning: academic subject; department
- On'yomi: カ (ka)
- Kun'yomi: —
- Strokes: 9
- Level: JLPT N3 · set Study

## How to remember 科

Grain (禾) sorted by the ladle (斗): an academic subject, each to its kind.

Parts: 禾 grain · 斗 ladle

## Words with 科

| Word | Reading | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 科 | か (ka) | department |
| 科する | かする (kasuru) | to inflict; to impose |

## Don't confuse it with

[斜](https://moji.ninja/n1-kanji/diagonal/)

## More in the “Study” set

[課](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/lesson/) · [史](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/history/) · [科](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/academic-subject/) · [授](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/impart/) · [級](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/class/) · [練](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/practise/)

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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/n3-kanji/academic-subject/. Last updated 2026-11-01.