字 — character / letter

Grade 1じ

Radical ⼦ · radical 39 The building block this kanji is filed under

字 (readings: じ; Japanese kanji) means “character / letter”. It is a Grade 1 Kyōiku kanji, taught in year 1 of Japanese elementary school, and appears in words such as 文字 (written character).

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What does 字 mean?

Full details, readings & example

Kanji	字
Meaning	character / letter
Readings	じ
Grade	Grade 1 (Easiest)
Curriculum	Kyōiku kanji · Japanese elementary school
Example	文字 (written character)

How to read 字

字 is read じ depending on the word.

Words with 字

文字chữ viết
漢字chữ Hán

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Read this character in a real sentence

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Updated: 2026-08-09