VocabularyJLPT N5 · core

切手

きって

hepburn kitte

postage stamp

Part of speech · noun

Pattern visualization

切cut

Show part origins

手hand

Show stroke order animation

Numbers4 strokes · 2.7s

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Examples

切手を貼ってください。
Please put a stamp on it.
記念切手を集めている。
I collect commemorative stamps.

Collocations

切手 (kitte, postage stamp)記念切手 (kinen kitte, commemorative stamp)切手を貼る (kitte wo haru, affix a stamp)切手収集 (kitte shuushuu, stamp collecting)消印 (keshi-in, postmark)

Mnemonic

Kitte (切手) is "postage stamp" — a precise Japanese cluster (B + cluster). Kanji "kiri (cut) + te (hand)" = mail-sending tool. UK issued the first stamp in 1840 and Japan followed in 1871. Cluster: (1) kinen kitte (commemorative stamps — yearly animals, landscapes, cultural treasures, Olympics, manga characters; collector market large); (2) kitte shuushuu (stamp collecting — Nippon Yuushuu Kyoukai 1935, peaked 1960-70, declining post-1990 yet surviving); (3) otoshidama kitte shiito (4th-tier nenga-hagaki prize); (4) furusato kitte (hometown stamps from 1989, 47-prefecture series featuring local specialties, regional promotion plus collector mosaic); (5) keshi-in (postmarks — collector value, shojitsu cover first-day premium). Korean upyo is plain; Japans furusato kitte precision has no Korean parallel; Chinese you-piao is generic. JLPT N5 plus a Japanese postal-mosaic precision cluster.

Quick check

Core of furusato kitte series?