Kanji 日 - sun, day
Kanji 日 means sun, day. Onyomi readings are ニチ (nichi), ジツ (jitsu) . Kunyomi readings are ひ (hi), か (ka), び (bi).
Stroke order animation (4 strokes)
Stroke Order Diagram
Each box shows the kanji up to that stroke. Red dot indicates stroke start point.
Readings of 日
音On'yomi (音読み)
訓Kun'yomi (訓読み)
日 in different fonts
Vocabulary with 日
| Audio | English  | Romaji | Japanese | Kana |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| day | hi | 日 | ひ | |
| Japan | nihon | 日本 | にほん |
More Information about 日
Common words with 日
- 日曜日（にちようび, nichiyōbi）: Sunday
- 日本（にほん／にっぽん, Nihon / Nippon）: Japan (lit. “origin of the sun”)
- 毎日（まいにち, mainichi）: every day
- 日記（にっき, nikki）: diary
- 休日（きゅうじつ, kyūjitsu）: holiday / day off
- 日光（にっこう, nikkō）: sunlight (also the place name Nikkō)
Tricky readings: 一日
- いちにち（ichinichi） = one whole day (duration)
- ついたち（tsuitachi） = the 1st day of the month Context tells you which reading to use.
Time expressions with 日
- 今日（きょう, kyō）: today / 今日（こんにち, konnichi）: nowadays (formal)
- 明日（あした／あす, ashita / asu）: tomorrow
- 昨日（きのう, kinō）: yesterday
- 日中（にっちゅう, nitchū）: during the day / daytime
Why does 日 appear in days and planets?
日（ひ, hi / にち, nichi） means sun. In East Asia, the seven-day cycle was linked to the sun, moon, and five visible planets. Each day uses a kanji from this system:
- 日曜日（にちようび, nichiyōbi） = Sunday (the sun’s day)
- 月曜日（げつようび, getsuyōbi） = Monday (moon)
- 火曜日（かようび, kayōbi） = Tuesday (Mars, fire 火)
- 水曜日（すいようび, suiyōbi） = Wednesday (Mercury, water 水)
- 木曜日（もくようび, mokuyōbi） = Thursday (Jupiter, wood 木)
- 金曜日（きんようび, kin’yōbi） = Friday (Venus, metal 金)
- 土曜日（どようび, doyōbi） = Saturday (Saturn, earth 土)
Japan’s country name 日本（にほん／にっぽん, Nihon/Nippon） uses 日 (sun) + 本（もと, moto / ほん, hon = origin/base）, meaning “origin of the sun.” From China’s viewpoint, Japan lies to the east, where the sun rises, so it was called the Land of the Rising Sun.
Look-alikes to watch out for
- 日 (sun/day) vs 目（め, me） (eye): 目 is taller and often looks like it has more inside space/lines.
- 日 vs 曰（えつ／いわく, etsu/iwaku）: 曰 has a small opening at the bottom; 日 is fully closed.
- 日 vs 白（しろ, shiro）: 白 has a tiny extra stroke at the top.
