今 — now, present
いま
今
now
Grade 2
Japanese school grade level in which this kanji is taught. Grade 1 is first year of elementary school.
4 strokes
time
U+4ECA
Unicode hex codepoint — a unique identifier for this character in the Unicode standard.
Freq #49
Frequency rank among the ~2,500 most common kanji in Japanese newspapers. Lower number = more common.
Heisig #1587
Index in James Heisig's "Remembering the Kanji" — a popular textbook that teaches kanji through mnemonics and stories.
Meanings
- now
- present
word
いま ima Kun'yomi Kun'yomi (訓読み) — the native Japanese reading of this kanji. Used when the kanji appears alone or with okurigana (trailing hiragana).
こん kon On'yomi On'yomi (音読み) — the Sino-Japanese reading, derived from Chinese pronunciation. Most commonly used in compound words (jukugo).
Jukujikun Jukujikun Jukujikun (熟字訓) — special readings where the pronunciation applies to the whole compound word rather than individual kanji. The reading cannot be split per character.
Components
Composed of
ひと
人
person
#9
いち
一
one
#1
Used as component in (6)
Indicative compound (指事). Originally depicted a cover (交) over a contained space. The sense is of something gathered into the present moment — now.