極 = 口 + 又 + 木 + 一 + 丂

極 is a Japanese kanji written with 12 strokes, listed here under the keyword “poles”. It is built from 口 (mouth), 又 (or again), 木 (tree), 一 (one) and 丂 (snare). In Remembering the Kanji by James W. Heisig it is frame 2052.

Keyword: poles
RTK frame: 2052
Strokes: 12
On'yomi (Sino-Japanese reading): キョク, ゴク
Kun'yomi (native Japanese reading): きわ.める, きわ.まる, きわ.まり, きわ.み, き.める, -ぎ.め, き.まる
Script: Japanese kanji
Also known as: extreme, полюса
Same glyph as a traditional Chinese hanzi: 極 extreme

Decomposition

Primary decomposition

How to find 極 without knowing its reading

On KumiJi Glyph Explorer, open the parts search and type “mouth” + “or again” + “tree”. 極 is among the results, together with every other character containing the same shapes.

Open 極 in the interactive kanji search to expand every part down to its smallest pieces, add your own names and mnemonic stories, or search for other characters by their parts.