明 — bright, clear, light
あかるい
明
bright
あかるい
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.
Remember 明
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Meanings
- bright
- clear
- light
- clarity
Readings
- On'yomi
- めい mei みょう myou みん min
- Kun'yomi
- あ a あか aka あき aki
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).
みょう myou 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.
Words by frequency and grade
62 wordsEach dot is a word containing 明: further left is more common, higher up needs a later school grade (the grade of its hardest kanji). Click a dot to open the word.
S = secondary school · 19 words have no frequency rank; they sit in the Unranked column.
Appears in idioms
Components
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.