ju / じゅ
The middle J combined kana — じ plus a small ゅ becomes 'ju'. Anchors ten (十), class (授業), and the polite 'sufficient' (十分).
Pronunciation
The compound character じゅ represents the syllable 'ju', formed by combining じ (ji) with a small ゅ. It is pronounced as a single syllable 'ju' (like the 'ju' in 'July').
じゅ is じ (ji) plus a small ゅ (yu). Together they make a single syllable /ju/. It anchors 十 (juu, "ten") and its many compounds (十分 juubun, "sufficient"; 十年 juunen, "ten years"; 十一 juuichi, "eleven"), 授業 (jugyou, "class / lesson"), 準備 (junbi, "preparation"), 住所 (juusho, "address"), 重要 (juuyou, "important"), 自由 (jiyuu, "freedom"), 銃 (juu, "gun" — same reading as ten). Word-initial じゅ is /ju/.
How to write じゅ
Trace じゅ on the canvas at the top of the page. Animated arrows show each stroke's direction; trace along them and the stroke fills in. Each numbered step below explains what that stroke does.
Write じ exactly: three strokes (し + dakuten).
Write a small ゅ next to じ. Stroke 4 is the small looping body (a tiny tear-drop); stroke 5 is the horizontal anchor crossing through it. Keep ゅ at roughly half the height of じ.
Origin
じゅ is the written combination of じ (し + dakuten ゛) and a small ゆ (from 由, yu). The /ju/ sound is one of the densest in Sino-Japanese number compounds — every number from 10 to 99 uses 十 (juu) somewhere in its name.
Common words starting with じゅ
Printable practice sheet
Print this worksheet to practice writing じゅ by hand — the top row shows the stroke order to trace, then fill the blank squares.
Lock it into memory
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