【生】(sei, shou, ikiru, haeru, ou, umu, ki/ life, live, birth, grow) Japanese Kanji | JLPT N5

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In this time, I will introduce the Kanji character 生.

How to read

① Onyomi (Chinese reading)

The on-readings are
・せい　sei
・しょう　shou

For example,

【せい】
・生活　せいかつ　sei-katsu
It means living, life (one's daily existence)
・日常生活　にちじょうせいかつ　nichi-jou sei-katsu
It means daily life

・生命　せいめい　sei-mei
It means life, biosis

・先生　せんせい　sen-sei
It means teacher

・生徒　せいと　sei-to
It means student (Mainly students from elementary to high school)

・学生　がくせい　gaku-sei
It means student (mainly university students)

・生年月日　せいねんがっぴ　sei-nen-gappi
It means the date of birth

【しょう】
・一生　いっしょう　isshou
It means a lifetime

・生涯　しょうがい　shou-gai
It means lifetime
The words 一生 and 生涯 are alomost similar in meaning.

・誕生　たんじょう　tan-jou
It means birth
・誕生日　たんじょうび　tan-jou-bi
It means birthday

and so on.

② Kunyomi (Japanese reading)

Next, the kun-reading is
・い-きる　i-kiru
・う-む　u-mu
・お-う　o-u
・は-える　ha-eru
・き　ki
・なま　nama

For example,
・生きる　いきる　i-kiru
It means to live

・生む　うむ　u-mu
It means produce, birth

・生える　はえる　ha-eru
It means grow (plant, hair)

・生　なま　nama
It means raw
・生もの　なまもの　nama-mono
It means raw foods

and so on.

③ Special reading

Next is a special reading.
・生憎　あいにく　ainiku
It means unfortunately

・弥生　やよい　Yayoi
This is an old way of saying March

・芝生　しばふ　Shibafu
It means turf

Meanings

Next is the meaning of the kanji for "生".
This kanji is used in the next meanings
・raw
・live
・life
・birth
・product
・grow

Radical

And the radical of this character is 生　ikiru
This character itself is a radical, a basic character.

Family name

Next, I will introduce family names. Here are some family names that are particularly common in Japan.
・生瀬　なませ　Namase
・羽生　はにゅう、はぶ　Hanyū, Habu
・麻生　あそう　Asou
・桐生　きりゅう　Kiryū
・生田　いくた　Ikuta
・生島　いくしま　Ikushima
・生駒　いこま　Ikoma

Personal name

These are the most common personal names using the Kanji for 生
・弥生　やよい　Yayoi

Famous person

Next, I will introduce Japanese celebrities who use the Kanji 生
・羽生 結弦　はにゅうゆづる　Hanyū Yuzuru
He is a figure skater. He is an Olympic gold medalist.

・羽生 善治　はぶよしはる　Habu Yoshiharu
He is one of the top chess players in Japan.

・麻生 太郎　あそうたろう　Asou Tarou
He is the former Prime Minister of Japan.

・生瀬 勝久　なませかつひさ　Namase Katsuhisa
He is an actor.

・岡田 将生　おかだまさき　Okada Masaki
He is an actor.

・蒲生 氏郷　がもううじさと　Gamou Ujisato
He was a feudal lord of the Warring States period.

・柳生 十兵衛　やぎゅうじゅうべえ　Yagyū Jūbē
He was a swordsman in the Edo period.

Place

Next, I will introduce place names and tourist attractions that use the kanji character for 生.
・相生市　あいおいし　Aioi shi
It is the name of a city in Kansai, Japan.

・生駒市　いこまし　Ikoma shi
It is also the name of a city in Kansai, Japan.

・桐生市　きりゅうし　kiryū shi
It is the name of a city in Kantou, Japan.

・羽生市　はにゅうし　Hanyū shi
It is also the name of a city in Kantou, Japan.

・福生市　ふっさし　Fussa Shi
It is also the name of a city in Tokyo prefecture, Japan.

Look-alikes

Here are some kanji that are similar to 生
・王　おう　ou
It means king

Containing its kanji

Here are some kanji that contain character 生 in their composition
・星　せい、ほし　sei, hoshi
It means star.

・性　せい　sei
It means gender, characteristic, property

・姓　せい　sei
It means family name

・牲　せい　sei
It means sacrifice

・産　さん、う-む　san, u-mu
It means product

・隆　りゅう　ryū
It means rising, uplift

・醒　せい、さ-める　sei, sa-meru
It means ober up

・甥　せい、おい　sei, oi
It means nephew

Thus, kanji characters containing the character 生 are often pronounced as "sei"

↓Other kanji characters can be found in the list here↓

Tags

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