What does 父 mean in Japanese?
父 means father. It is a core JLPT N5 kanji and one half of the most basic family pair, 父 and 母 (father and mother).
Japanese has two words for father depending on whose father and how you speak. 父 (chichi) is how you refer to your own father humbly to others; お父さん (otousan) is how you address him at home and how you refer to someone else’s father politely. The on’yomi フ appears in compounds like 父母 (fubo, parents) and 祖父 (sofu, grandfather).
Reading
On’yomi: フ (fu)
Kun’yomi: ちち (chichi), とう (tou)
Basic Information
| Kanji | 父 |
|---|---|
| Meaning | father |
| Stroke Count | 4 |
| JLPT Level | N5 |
How to Understand This Kanji
The key is the humble-versus-polite split. 父 (chichi) is the plain, humble word for your own father, used when speaking to others: 父は会社員です (my father is an office worker). お父さん (otousan) is the warm word you use to address your own father directly and to refer politely to someone else’s: お父さんはお元気ですか (how is your father?). 父親 (chichioya) is a neutral, objective ‘father’ used in description. The on’yomi フ builds 祖父 (sofu, grandfather), 父母 (fubo, parents), and 父兄 (fukei, parents and guardians).
Common Words
- 父（ちち / chichi） — (my) father
- お父さん（おとうさん / otousan） — father, dad (polite / address form)
- 父親（ちちおや / chichioya） — father (objective)
- 祖父（そふ / sofu） — grandfather
- 父母（ふぼ / fubo） — father and mother, parents
- 父の日（ちちのひ / chichi no hi） — Father’s Day
Example Sentences
-
父は毎日、会社に行きます。
ちちはまいにち、かいしゃにいきます。 / Chichi wa mainichi, kaisha ni ikimasu.
My father goes to work every day.
-
お父さんはどこにいますか。
おとうさんはどこにいますか。 / Otousan wa doko ni imasu ka.
Where is your father?
-
父の日にプレゼントをあげました。
ちちのひにぷれぜんとをあげました。 / Chichi no hi ni purezento o agemashita.
I gave a present on Father’s Day.
When Learners Usually See This Kanji
This humble-polite distinction trips up every beginner, so fix it early: talk about your own father to outsiders as 父 (chichi), but call him お父さん at home. For someone else’s father, always use お父さん out of politeness.
父 has only four strokes and a simple, memorable shape. Pair it with 母 (mother, five strokes) and learn them as a set, since they appear together constantly in 父母 and in everyday conversation.
The reading とう appears only inside お父さん (otousan). You will not use とう on its own, so treat お父さん as a fixed word rather than trying to break it apart.
Summary
父 means father: use 父 (chichi) humbly for your own father when speaking to others, and お父さん (otousan) to address him or to refer politely to someone else’s. The on’yomi フ appears in 祖父 (grandfather) and 父母 (parents).