明 — bright, clear, light
あかるい
明
bright
Grade 2
Japanese school grade level in which this kanji is taught. Grade 1 is first year of elementary school.
8 strokes
time
U+660E
Unicode hex codepoint — a unique identifier for this character in the Unicode standard.
Freq #67
Frequency rank among the ~2,500 most common kanji in Japanese newspapers. Lower number = more common.
Heisig #20
Index in James Heisig's "Remembering the Kanji" — a popular textbook that teaches kanji through mnemonics and stories.
Meanings
- bright
- clear
- light
- clarity
word
あか aka 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).
めい mei On'yomi On'yomi (音読み) — the Sino-Japanese reading, derived from Chinese pronunciation. Most commonly used in compound words (jukugo).
あ a 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).
あき aki 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).
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.
Appears in idioms
Components
Composed of
ひ
日
sun
#72
つき
月
month
#74
Used as component in (1)
Compound ideograph (会意). Combines 日 (sun) and 月 (moon) — the two brightest celestial bodies together convey brightness and clarity. In oracle bone script, the character depicted moonlight shining through a window.