Kanji quizzes for the joy of reading
How do you read 一石二鳥 in Japanese?
One action, two benefits.
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Think of your answer before you look.
HINTShow hint
Gaining two benefits from one action. The first character is read with a small っ, rather than ichi.
More on radicals and this quiz’s stroke counts
Describe the shapes you see
You do not need to know the radical’s name. Try these searches for this quiz’s characters.
Japanese reading of 一 石 二 鳥
difference between 鳥 and 烏 kanji
Japanese four-character idiom for two benefits from one action
These searches describe visual similarities, not formal radicals or character components.
一: 1 strokes; radical 一 (one). 石: 5 strokes; radical 石 (stone). 二: 2 strokes; radical 二 (two). 鳥: 11 strokes; radical 鳥 (bird). Distinguish informal descriptions of the shape from the dictionary radical.
一1 strokes / radical: 一 (one)
石5 strokes / radical: 石 (stone)
二2 strokes / radical: 二 (two)
鳥11 strokes / radical: 鳥 (bird)
Stroke counts and radicals follow the Japanese dictionary Kanjipedia; other dictionaries may differ.
Kanjipedia「一」 ／ Kanjipedia「石」 ／ Kanjipedia「二」 ／ Kanjipedia「鳥」
ANSWERShow answerHide answer
The answer is
いっせきにちょう
issekinichō
一石二鳥
Understand the meaning
English translationTwo benefits from one action
Gaining two benefits from a single action. For example, walking to the library can combine returning a book with getting exercise.
See it in a sentence
図書館まで歩けば本を返せて運動にもなり、一石二鳥だ。Walking to the library lets me return my books and get some exercise: two benefits from one trip.
A way to remember
Read the two parts as isseki and nichō. Check the small っ in the first part and the long chō at the end.
Sources：Kanjipedia: 一石二鳥
The explanation draws on the sources below. Examples were written for this page.
Explore the word further
Make both benefits clear
To explain why something is 一石二鳥, name the action and the two advantages it brings. This is clearer than simply saying it was convenient.
例：読書会で本の感想を話すと、内容を整理でき、友人の考えも知れて一石二鳥だ。
Sharing my thoughts at a book club helps me organize the book’s content and learn my friends’ views, giving me two benefits at once.
Not merely doing two separate tasks
Distinguish this from gaining separate benefits through separate actions. The key is that one action produces both advantages. Identify the shared action in the example.
References for this explanation：Kanjipedia: 一石二鳥
Explanation checked on 2026-10-25. Additional examples were written by DuraRing for this page.
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