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On'yomi vs Kun'yomi: The Two Kanji Readings and How to Learn Them

Kanji have on'yomi, readings borrowed from Chinese, and kun'yomi, native Japanese words written with the kanji. See how the official kanji list marks them, the usual patterns and their exceptions, and a word-first way for beginners to learn readings.

Inku editorial team · · 4 min read

On'yomi (音読み) is a kanji reading that comes from Chinese. Kun'yomi (訓読み) is a native Japanese word that was attached to the kanji. 山 has both: the kun'yomi やま (yama) in 山 (“mountain”) and the on'yomi さん (san) in 富士山 (ふじさん, Fujisan, “Mount Fuji”). As advice for beginners: learn each reading inside a word you know, not as a list attached to the kanji.

Why kanji have two kinds of reading

The Unicode Consortium's report on its kanji database, UAX #38 (Unihan), summarizes it in its section on readings. Japanese has two pronunciation systems for kanji. On readings, also called Sino-Japanese, come from words borrowed from Chinese, and they depend on when and from which part of China a word was borrowed. Kun readings come from native Japanese words, written with kanji that already existed or with new kanji created for them. The report's conclusion is blunt: multiple readings are the rule for Japanese kanji.

That history explains why one kanji can have several on'yomi as well as a kun'yomi. 月 is read げつ (getsu) in 月曜日 and がつ (gatsu) in 正月 (しょうがつ, shougatsu, “New Year”), and its kun'yomi is つき (tsuki, “moon”).

How the official kanji list shows the difference

Japan's official list of common-use kanji, the 常用漢字表 (Cabinet notice, PDF), lists 2,136 characters. In its readings column, on readings are written in katakana and kun readings in hiragana. Here is how the table lists 日:

  • ニチ (nichi): 毎日 まいにち (mainichi), “every day”
  • ジツ (jitsu): 休日 きゅうじつ (kyuujitsu), “day off”
  • ひ (hi): 日 ひ (hi), “day, sun”
  • か (ka): 三日 みっか (mikka), “the third of the month; three days”

The first two are in katakana, so they are on'yomi. The last two are in hiragana, so they are kun'yomi.

Rules of thumb, and where they break

These patterns help you guess, but each one has exceptions:

  • Kanji with hiragana after it usually takes kun'yomi. 大きい (おおきい, ookii, “big”), 食べる (たべる, taberu, “to eat”), 生まれる (うまれる, umareru, “to be born”).
  • Two or more kanji together often take on'yomi. 学生 (がくせい, gakusei, “student”), 先生 (せんせい, sensei, “teacher”).
  • A kanji alone often takes kun'yomi. 水 (みず, mizu, “water”), 人 (ひと, hito, “person”).

Now the exceptions. 本 (ほん, hon, “book”) and 駅 (えき, eki, “station”) stand alone but use on'yomi (the table lists ホン and エキ; it also gives 本 a kun'yomi, もと, meaning “origin”). Some kanji, such as 校 (コウ) in 学校 (がっこう, gakkou, “school”), have only an on'yomi in the table. A compound can also mix both kinds: in 日曜日 (にちようび, nichiyoubi, “Sunday”), the first 日 is にち and the last is び, the kun'yomi ひ with a voiced sound. The table even gives 月曜日 as an example of the ひ reading.

Finally, some words take a reading for the whole word, not one per kanji. The table's appendix lists 今日 (きょう, kyou, “today”), 大人 (おとな, otona, “adult”) and 一人 (ひとり, hitori, “one person”). You cannot build these from the separate readings.

How to learn the readings

The exceptions are the reason a word-first approach is useful. As advice for beginners:

  1. Learn the word with its reading. Learn 学生 as がくせい. You then know one reading of 学 and one of 生 in a real context.
  2. Add a reading when you meet it. When 生 shows up in 先生, you already have the セイ reading. When it shows up in 生まれる, add the うまれる reading and keep that word as its example.
  3. Keep one anchor word per reading. つき → 月, げつ → 月曜日. When you meet an unknown word, ask which anchor it looks like.
  4. Skip full reading lists for now. 生 has more than ten readings in the table. Most of them will make sense only when you meet the words that use them.

For how to set up the flashcards themselves, see Japanese kanji flashcards. For the parts inside each character, see kanji radicals, which explains why radicals hint at meaning but are not a reliable guide to readings. Kanji learning strategies covers the wider study plan.

Practice: the same kanji in two decks

Inku's free browser flashcards have two decks that show this contrast. The JLPT N5 starter deck has 日 (ひ), 月 (つき), 火 (ひ), 水 (みず) and 木 (き), all kun'yomi. The Days of the week deck uses the same kanji with on'yomi: にちようび, げつようび, かようび, すいようび and もくようび. Review the N5 starter deck first. Then, in the Days deck, name the kanji at the start of each day and say its on'yomi before you flip the card. Both decks need no account, and progress stays in your browser.

Sources

  • Unicode UAX #38: Unicode Han Database (Unihan), 3.4 Readings — Japanese has on (Sino-Japanese) readings derived from Chinese loanwords, depending on when and from where they were borrowed, and kun readings from native Japanese words; multiple readings are the rule for Japanese kanji. (checked 2026-10-16)
  • Cabinet notice: 常用漢字表 (2010, PDF) — 2,136 characters; on readings in katakana, kun in hiragana; entries for 日 (ニチ 毎日, ジツ 休日, ひ 月曜日, か 三日), 月 (ゲツ, ガツ 正月, つき), 生 (12 readings), 本 (ホン), 駅 (エキ), 校 (コウ only), 山 (サン, やま); appendix words 今日, 大人, 一人. (checked 2026-10-16)
  • Inku: Free Japanese flashcards — Free browser flashcards; JLPT N5 starter deck with 日 ひ, 月 つき, 火 ひ, 水 みず, 木 き; Days of the week deck with にちようび, げつようび, かようび, すいようび, もくようび; no account; progress saved in the browser. (checked 2026-10-16)

Prepared by our editorial team with AI assistance. Product details are checked against the sources below.

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