ChiramiThe kanji for morning has the moon in it (朝)
The kanji for morning is 朝 (asa). On the left, the sun comes up between blades of grass, and on the right is 月, the moon, still out in the sky: dawn in a single kanji, just as the oldest forms drew it. You’ll meet it every day in words like 朝ご飯 (asagohan), breakfast, and 毎朝 (maiasa), every morning.
What the kanji say
The left side is 日, the sun, with a little grass above and below it. In the modern shape the grass has turned into two 十 shapes, one over the sun and one under it.
月 (tsuki) is the moon, a drawing of a crescent. It also means month: 今月 (kongetsu), this month, and 月曜日 (getsuyoubi), Monday, the “moon day”.
Where it really comes from
The oldest forms of 朝, carved on Chinese oracle bones more than 3,000 years ago, show just what the video draws: the sun rising among plants while the moon is still in the sky.
After that, the story gets messier. In some later bronze inscriptions the moon was swapped for water, possibly because the same character was also used for the tide. Today that word has its own kanji, 潮 (shio), with 氵, water, added on the left. The Shuowen Jiezi, a Chinese dictionary from around 100 CE, describes the right side as 舟, a boat, there for its sound.
Scholars still argue about how today’s 月 got there. Some see the original moon; others think it is a reshaped version of that later water or boat. So the moon in 朝 may be partly a look-alike, but the very first 朝 really did have a moon in it, and that’s the picture to keep.
Japanese dictionaries add one more twist: 潮 is the morning tide, and 汐 (also shio), with 夕, evening, is the evening tide.
How to use it
おはよう。今朝は寒いね。
Ohayou. Kesa wa samui ne.
Morning. It's cold this morning, isn't it?
毎朝コーヒーを飲みます。
Maiasa koohii o nomimasu.
I drink coffee every morning.
朝ご飯、食べた？
Asagohan, tabeta?
Did you have breakfast?
明日の朝、電話します。
Ashita no asa, denwa shimasu.
I'll call you tomorrow morning.
- 今朝 is read けさ (kesa), “this morning”. It’s a special reading you simply have to learn.
- In compound words, 朝 is often read ちょう (chou): 朝食 (choushoku), breakfast, the word you’ll see on hotel signs, and 朝刊 (choukan), the morning paper.
- 朝 can also mean a royal court or a dynasty, as in 王朝 (ouchou), a dynasty. The meaning grew out of the morning audiences held at a ruler’s court.
- 朝寝坊 (asanebou) is oversleeping, or a person who often does.
Words with the same kanji
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 毎朝 | maiasa | every morning |
| 今朝 | kesa | this morning |
| 朝ご飯 | asagohan | breakfast |
| 朝日 | asahi | the morning sun |
| 朝寝坊 | asanebou | oversleeping; a late riser |
| 満月 | mangetsu | full moon |
Remember it
Dawn in a field: the sun pushes up through the grass on the left, and on the right the moon (月) hasn’t gone to bed yet. That’s 朝.
The kanji in this lesson
Tap Draw it to watch the stroke order. Numbers show where each stroke starts.