JLPT N5 Kanji – 電 – den

This is 5-Minute Kanji, and today, we’re going with an electrifying kanji: the kanji for electricity.

Mnemonic:

Lightning strikes the DEN, and the ELECTRICITY goes out!

Onyomi:

デン
den

Kunyomi:

N/A

Electricity powers our modern world, and so does 電. This kanji is everywhere in daily Japanese life – from 電車 (でんしゃ, train/electric car) to 電話 (でんわ, telephone) to 電気 (でんき, electricity). Unlike some kanji, 電 doesn’t have a kunyomi reading that you’ll need to worry about for the JLPT. It’s almost always pronounced with the onyomi, デン (den).

The kanji itself is a bit complex-looking, but you can break it down: there’s a rain radical (雨) on top, which makes sense – think thunder and lightning! Below that are some additional strokes that complete the character.

When working on mnemonics, you only need to focus on デン – that’s your star player here.

Mnemonic Factory

We’re dealing with a slightly more complex kanji here: 電. The top portion looks like the rain radical (雨), which connects perfectly to the idea of thunderstorms and lightning – natural electricity! The bottom part can be thought of as the energy or charge being conducted downward. You can also imagine the bottom portion serving as a charge station for an electric car or a microwave with its power cord concealed beneath it.

Let’s brainstorm similar-sounding English words for デン:

• DEN (like a cozy room, or a bear’s den)
• DENim (those electric blue jeans!)
• DENtal
• DENmark

Putting it together:
Imagine a bear emerging from its DEN during a thunderstorm. Suddenly, a massive lightning bolt strikes – ZAP! – and the bear gets electrified with ELECTRICITY! Its fur stands on end as sparks fly everywhere.

Example Words

Onyomi (デン):

Let’s look at the most common words using 電:

• 電気（でんき） “electricity”
• 電車（でんしゃ） “train” (literally “electric car”)
• 電話（でんわ） “telephone”
• 電子（でんし） “electron; electronic”*
• 電池（でんち） “battery”*
• 電灯（でんとう） “electric light”*
• 電力（でんりょく） “electric power”*

*Not an N5 word

Commonly Confused With

• 雷 – thunder/lightning (shares the rain radical, but focuses on the natural phenomenon)
• 雪 – snow (also has rain radical on top)
• 雲 – cloud (another rain radical kanji)

Story Review

Can you recall the story? Fill in the blanks and shout it out:

Lightning strikes the ___ and the ___________ goes out!

Let’s try again:

Lightning strikes the ___ and the ___________ goes out!

Word Review

Ready for a power surge quiz? Yell out the reading for each one:

電気

電車

電話

電子*

電池*

電灯*

*Not an N5 word

That’s the kanji for electricity! If you have any questions, leave a comment below. If you want more electrifying kanji lessons, hit the subscribe button and hit the bell mark to get a notification every time I send out a new video. Also, be sure to check out my other 5 Minute Kanji videos.