ChiramiThe Japanese word for study means forcing yourself (勉強)
Benkyou (勉強) is the everyday Japanese word for studying: homework, revision, learning a language. Its kanji are tougher than its meaning: 勉, to strive, and 強, to force. Read literally, studying is forcing yourself to make an effort. That isn’t just a joke about exams. For most of its history in Japanese, that’s exactly what the word meant.
What the kanji say
勉 (ben) means to strive or work hard. On its right is 力, strength, which carries the meaning, while 免 on the left gives the sound. You’ll also find it in 勤勉 (kinben), hard-working.
強 (kyou, tsuyoi) means strong. Used as a verb, 強いる (shiiru), it means to force someone to do something. The 弓 on its left is a bow.
From forcing to studying
Japanese borrowed 勉強 from Chinese, where 勉強 (miǎnqiǎng) still means “reluctantly” or “to force someone into something”. In Japanese it first meant pushing yourself through something hard. The Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, Japan’s biggest dictionary, quotes an early 1600s text that defines it like this: doing the things that are beyond your strength, and beyond what your heart wants, is called 勉強. A second old meaning was doing something you don’t want to do because you have no choice.
The meaning “study” is much younger. No examples of it have turned up from the Edo period (1603–1868); the earliest come from the early 1870s. Even Fukuzawa Yukichi’s 学問のすゝめ (Gakumon no Susume, “An Encouragement of Learning”, 1872–76) uses 勉強 in a way that could mean either striving or studying. So 勉強 as schoolwork is only about 150 years old, and the idea of effort came first.
The shop meaning
In a shop or market, a shopkeeper might tell you 勉強しますよ (benkyou shimasu yo). They’re not offering to study. They mean “I’ll give you a good price”.
The video pictures this as forcing the price down, and that’s a good way to remember it. Another way to see it runs through the old meaning of the word: making an effort, or putting up with something you’d rather not. Read that way, it’s the shopkeeper who is straining, giving up some of the profit for your sake. This meaning is fairly recent too: the Nihon Kokugo Daijiten’s first example is from the late 1880s.
How to use it
毎日、日本語を勉強しています。
Mainichi, nihongo o benkyou shite imasu.
I study Japanese every day.
明日テストだから、今夜は勉強しないと。
Ashita tesuto dakara, kon'ya wa benkyou shinai to.
I've got a test tomorrow, so I need to study tonight.
いい勉強になりました。
Ii benkyou ni narimashita.
That taught me a lot.
もう少し勉強してもらえませんか。
Mou sukoshi benkyou shite moraemasen ka.
Could you come down a little on the price?
- 勉強する (benkyou suru) is studying as work: books, notes and effort. 学ぶ (manabu), to learn, is broader and can mean learning from experience.
- 勉強になる (benkyou ni naru), “to become study”, means to be educational. いい勉強になりました is a polite way to thank someone for teaching you something, or to admit you learned the hard way.
- The discount meaning is the shopkeeper’s word, but a customer can ask for it too, as in the last example.
Words with the same kanji
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 勉強家 | benkyouka | hard worker, studious person |
| 勤勉 | kinben | diligent, hard-working |
| 勉強会 | benkyoukai | study group |
| 強い | tsuyoi | strong |
| 強いる | shiiru | to force |
| 強引 | gouin | pushy, by force |
Remember it
Picture yourself at your desk, straining with all your strength (力) like a weightlifter, forcing (強) yourself through one more page. That’s 勉強. When a shopkeeper says it, he’s the one doing the straining, for your sake.
The kanji in this lesson
Tap Draw it to watch the stroke order. Numbers show where each stroke starts.