What does 降 mean in Japanese?
降 has two kun’yomi readings that learners often confuse because they serve completely different purposes. お-りる means to get off or step down from a vehicle or elevated surface. ふ-る means precipitation falls from the sky. One reading is for transit; the other is for weather.
As the counterpart to 乗る (board), 降りる (oriru, get off) completes your vehicle vocabulary. And 雨が降る (it rains) and 雪が降る (it snows) are foundational weather expressions — note that the verb is always 降る for precipitation, never 落ちる.
Reading
On’yomi: コウ (kou)
Kun’yomi: お-りる (o-riru), お-ろす (o-rosu), ふ-る (fu-ru)
Basic Information
| Kanji | 降 |
|---|---|
| Meaning | descend, get off, fall (rain/snow) |
| Stroke Count | 10 |
| JLPT Level | N4 |
How to Understand This Kanji
The two kun’yomi split by subject: when a person descends, use お-りる or お-ろす. When precipitation falls, use ふ-る. The transitive partner of 降りる is 降ろす (orosu, to let someone off or lower something). In signage, 降車口 (exit door for alighting passengers) uses the on’yomi コウ.
Common Words
- 降りる（おりる / oriru） — to get off, to step down from
- 降ろす（おろす / orosu） — to let someone off, to lower, to put down
- 雨が降る（あめがふる / ame ga furu） — it rains
- 雪が降る（ゆきがふる / yuki ga furu） — it snows
- 降車（こうしゃ / kousha） — alighting from a vehicle
- 降雪（こうせつ / kousetsu） — snowfall
Example Sentences
-
次の駅で降ります。
つぎのえきでおります。 / Tsugi no eki de orimasu.
I am getting off at the next station.
-
今日は雨が降るらしいです。
きょうはあめがふるらしいです。 / Kyou wa ame ga furu rashii desu.
It seems like it will rain today.
-
タクシーを止めて、ここで降ろしてもらいました。
タクシーをとめて、ここでおろしてもらいました。 / Takushii o tomete, koko de oroshite moraimashita.
I had the taxi stop and let me out here.
When Learners Usually See This Kanji
The biggest stumbling point with 降 is its two kun’yomi. お-りる (a person descends from a vehicle or stairs) and ふ-る (rain or snow falls) look like they should be connected, but they describe very different situations. The context tells you which applies: if a person or object is descending, read おりる; if the subject is weather, read ふる.
雨が降る / 雪が降る are fixed expressions — do not substitute 落ちる (fall/drop), which implies something falling unexpectedly. Precipitation always 降る in Japanese.
On buses in Japan, signs distinguish 乗車口 (boarding door) from 降車口 (exit door). Recognizing these two kanji — 乗 and 降 — on door signs is useful from your first day on a local bus.
降ろす (orosu, transitive) lets you express letting someone off: タクシーを駅で降ろしてもらいました (I had the taxi drop me off at the station). The intransitive 降りる is for your own descent; the transitive 降ろす is for someone else doing the lowering.
Summary
降 means to descend or get off a vehicle (降りる) and for precipitation to fall (降る) — two distinct kun’yomi covering essential transit and weather vocabulary.