災 — disaster / calamity

Grade 5さい, わざわ

Radical ⽕ · radical 86 The building block this kanji is filed under

災 (readings: さい, わざわ; Japanese kanji) means “disaster / calamity”. It is a Grade 5 Kyōiku kanji, taught in year 5 of Japanese elementary school, and appears in words such as 災害 (disaster).

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What does 災 mean?

Full details, readings & example

Kanji	災
Meaning	disaster / calamity
Readings	さい, わざわ
Grade	Grade 5 (Hard)
Curriculum	Kyōiku kanji · Japanese elementary school
Example	災害 (disaster)

How to read 災

災 is read さい or わざわ depending on the word.

Words with 災

災害さいがいthảm họa
防災ぼうさいphòng chống thiên tai
被災地ひさいちvùng bị nạn
災害時さいがいじkhi thiên tai
災禍tai họa

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Updated: 2026-08-09