JŌYŌ KANJI · Grade 6
young
young · if · perhaps · possibly
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
The old pictograph depicted an oracle receiver; its later uses include youth, a conditional 'if,' and a small quantity in 若干.
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
- 若年，若干，自若
- 老若
- 若い，若者，若々しい
- 若しくは
Official notes
- 「老若」は，「ロウジャク」とも。
- 若人（わこうど）
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 若.
若 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 若 has not been verified in the sources attached to this entry.
Agency for Cultural Affairs: writing history ↗ · 2010 Jōyō notice ↗