Small ke
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The small ke (ヶ) is a common Japanese character.
It is an abbreviation for the kanji 箇, which is used as a counter word. Although it resembles the katakana character ke (ケ), it is pronounced ka, ga or ko, not ke.
The small ke is found in some counters and place names. When it is used in a counter word, such as 1ヶ月 (ikkagetsu, one month [duration]) it is pronounced ka.
When used in a place name, such as 青木ヶ原 (Aokigahara), it is pronounced ga. The combination "～ヶ原" (gahara) means "field of～" and appears occasionally in Japanese place names. This is a rule of thumb with numerous exceptions. For example, in 三ヶ日 (Mikkabi, place name) it is pronounced ka.
