JŌYŌ KANJI · Grade 3
medicine
medicine · chemical · enamel · gunpowder
Readings
Official Jōyō readings in table order
On’yomi 音読み
Kun’yomi 訓読み
Origin and meaning
Originally a healing drug or herb; modern uses include medicine and substances used in chemistry and agriculture.
Written form
The official Jōyō table also prints the following parenthesized form beside 薬:
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
- 薬剤，薬局，火薬
- 薬，飲み薬
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 薬.
薬 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 薬 has not been verified in the sources attached to this entry.
Agency for Cultural Affairs: writing history ↗ · 2010 Jōyō notice ↗