Look up 日 in a Japanese dictionary and you will find at least four pronunciations: ニチ, ジツ, ひ, and -か. This is not an error or an edge case — it is how Japanese works. Every kanji can have more than one reading, and beginners often hit a wall trying to figure out which one to use and when.
This guide explains the two reading systems — on’yomi and kun’yomi — in plain terms, with real examples drawn from kanji you will recognize.
Why Does One Kanji Have Two Readings?
Japanese writing borrowed kanji from Chinese roughly 1,500 years ago. The Chinese pronunciations came along with the characters — those became on’yomi (音読み), meaning “sound reading.” But Japan already had a spoken language before kanji arrived. When a character was matched to an existing Japanese word, the native pronunciation was attached as a second reading — that became kun’yomi (訓読み), meaning “meaning reading.”
The result is that most kanji carry both a Chinese-derived reading and a native Japanese reading, and both are used in everyday writing.
On’yomi — The Chinese-Derived Reading
On’yomi is shown in katakana in dictionaries (for example, ニチ or サン). It usually appears when a kanji is combined with one or more other kanji to form a compound word — called a jukugo (熟語).
A few concrete examples:
- 日本人 (にほんじん) — Japanese person. All three kanji use on’yomi.
- 学生 (がくせい) — student. 学 reads ガク, 生 reads セイ.
- 富士山 (ふじさん) — Mt. Fuji. 山 reads サン here, not やま.
Notice that in each case, the kanji appears alongside at least one other kanji. That is the most reliable signal that on’yomi is in play.
Kun’yomi — The Native Japanese Reading
Kun’yomi is shown in hiragana in dictionaries (for example, やま or みず). It usually appears when a kanji stands alone as a word, or when it is followed by hiragana endings called okurigana.
Examples:
- 山 (やま) — mountain, used by itself
- 川 (かわ) — river, used by itself
- 水 (みず) — water, used by itself
- 本 (ほん) — book, used by itself (the same kanji compounds into 日本, にほん, using on’yomi)
- 生きる (いきる) — to live. 生 uses kun’yomi いき−, with る added as okurigana.
The okurigana pattern is particularly useful: if you see a kanji followed directly by hiragana that is part of the word — not a particle — you are almost certainly looking at kun’yomi.
A Quick Reference: Five Common N5 Kanji
The table below shows the same five kanji read two different ways, with an example word for each.
| Kanji | On’yomi | Compound example | Kun’yomi | Standalone example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 日 | ニチ / ジツ | 日曜日 (にちようび) Sunday |
ひ / -か | 今日 (きょう) today |
| 月 | ゲツ / ガツ | 月曜日 (げつようび) Monday |
つき | 月 (つき) moon |
| 山 | サン | 富士山 (ふじさん) Mt. Fuji |
やま | 山 (やま) mountain |
| 水 | スイ | 水曜日 (すいようび) Wednesday |
みず | 水 (みず) water |
| 人 | ジン / ニン | 日本人 (にほんじん) Japanese person |
ひと | 人 (ひと) a person |
The Pattern That Helps Most Beginners
The compound-word rule is the most reliable starting point:
- Two or more kanji in a row — likely on’yomi
- One kanji alone, or followed by hiragana — likely kun’yomi
It does not hold in every case — Japanese has exceptions, including some very common words like 今日 (きょう, today) — but it is correct often enough to guide your reading without requiring you to memorize every case upfront.
You Do Not Need to Learn Every Reading at Once
A common beginner approach is to look at a kanji, see five listed readings, and try to memorize all of them before moving on. This tends to produce knowledge that does not transfer to real reading — the readings stay abstract rather than connecting to words you can actually use.
A more practical approach: learn readings through words, not in isolation. When you encounter 水曜日 (すいようび, Wednesday), you absorb the on’yomi スイ without sitting down to drill it. When you order water at a restaurant and say みず, the kun’yomi becomes automatic. The remaining readings fill in naturally through exposure.
The 80 beginner kanji on the JLPT N5 kanji list each link to an individual page showing the most common readings alongside a real example word — a good place to build this kind of word-based familiarity from the start.
Next Steps
If you want a practical framework for building on what you have learned here, How to Learn Kanji as a Beginner walks through a step-by-step study path — from anchoring meanings to understanding readings through real words.