JŌYŌ KANJI · Grade 2
bright
bright · light
Readings
Official Jōyō readings in table order
On’yomi 音読み
Kun’yomi 訓読み
Additional readings in the learning dataset
On’yomi
Kun’yomi
These are outside the official Jōyō list above. A listed reading is not necessarily common in modern use.
Origin and meaning
An early form joined sun and moon; another showed moonlight through a window.
Written form
No parenthesized form is given in the official Jōyō index for this character.
Compare manuscript and printed examples in the HNG historical glyph archive ↗. Where available, its dated samples document written forms; they do not establish the first use of this character in Japan.
Examples in the official table
- 明暗，説明，鮮明
- 明日，光明，灯明
- 明かり，薄明かり
- 明るい，明るさ
- 明るむ
- 明らむ
- 明らかだ
- 明ける，夜明け
- 明く
- 明くる日，明くる朝
- 明かす，種明かし
Official notes
- 明日（あす）
- ⇔開ける，空ける
- ⇔開く，空く
When did it enter Japanese?
Chinese characters reached Japan through a long process of contact. Early inscribed objects and sixth-century Japanese names are documented; this is context for the writing system, not a first date for 明.
明 appears in the current Jōyō kanji table published on 30 November 2010. This records modern standard status, not the date the character was first used in Japan.
A dated first Japanese use for 明 has not been verified in the sources attached to this entry.
Agency for Cultural Affairs: writing history ↗ · 2010 Jōyō notice ↗