ChiramiWhy the kanji for peace has rice in it (和)
和 (wa) is the kanji for harmony and peace, and it is also the kanji for Japan, as in 和食 (washoku), Japanese food. It is built from 禾, a rice plant, and 口, a mouth, and the everyday word for peace, 平和 (heiwa), pairs it with 平, flat and calm.
What the kanji say
禾, on the left, began as a picture of a stalk of grain. In ancient China that grain was millet; in Japanese, 禾 can be read ine, the rice plant, the same word as 稲 (ine). It appears in many kanji to do with crops, such as 秋 (aki), autumn, the harvest season.
口, on the right, is a mouth, one of the simplest pictures among the kanji.
平 means flat, level or calm. You’ll see it in 平日 (heijitsu), a weekday, an ordinary day, and in 平仮名 (hiragana), the “plain” kana. Where its shape comes from is still debated, so it’s easiest to learn by its meaning: a flat, calm surface.
Together, 平和 reads as “calm harmony”: peace, between countries or in everyday life.
Where it really comes from
“When every mouth has rice, there’s peace” is a lovely way to remember 和, and it’s how the video tells it. The history is about sound, though. Like most kanji, 和 is a sound-and-meaning pair: 口 carries the meaning, and 禾 was chosen because in old Chinese it sounded like the word for harmony. The rice plant is there mainly as a pronunciation guide.
The mouth points to voices. In Chinese, 和 can still mean to join in a song, or to answer someone’s poem with one of your own: voices in tune with each other.
The Japan meaning has its own story. Early Chinese histories wrote the name of Japan, Wa, with 倭. In the mid-700s, Japan replaced it with 和, which has the same sound and a much happier meaning. That’s why 和 now means “Japanese” in words like 和食 and 和室 (washitsu), a Japanese-style room with tatami floors.
How to use it
世界が平和になりますように。
Sekai ga heiwa ni narimasu you ni.
I hope the world will be at peace.
晩ご飯は和食にしようか。
Bangohan wa washoku ni shiyou ka.
Shall we have Japanese food for dinner?
和室のある旅館に泊まりたいです。
Washitsu no aru ryokan ni tomaritai desu.
I'd like to stay at an inn with Japanese-style rooms.
平和な毎日が一番だね。
Heiwa na mainichi ga ichiban da ne.
Peaceful, ordinary days are the best, aren't they?
- 平和 (heiwa) is the word for peace, from world peace to a quiet life at home. 和 on its own (wa) is closer to harmony within a group: チームの和 (chiimu no wa) is team spirit.
- As a prefix, 和 means Japanese: 和食 (washoku), Japanese food, 和服 (wafuku), Japanese clothes, 和風 (wafuu), Japanese-style. The opposite is 洋 (you), Western: 洋食 (youshoku), 洋服 (youfuku), 洋室 (youshitsu).
- In dictionaries, 和英 (waei) means Japanese–English and 英和 (eiwa) English–Japanese.
- Era names use it too: 昭和 (Shouwa), from 1926 to 1989, and 令和 (Reiwa), the era that began in 2019.
Words with the same kanji
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 平和 | heiwa | peace |
| 和食 | washoku | Japanese food |
| 和室 | washitsu | Japanese-style room |
| 和菓子 | wagashi | traditional Japanese sweets |
| 平日 | heijitsu | weekday |
| 平仮名 | hiragana | hiragana |
Remember it
Picture a table where every mouth (口) has a full bowl of rice (禾). Nobody is hungry and nobody is arguing: that’s 和. Smooth everything flat and calm (平), and you have 平和, peace.
The kanji in this lesson
Tap Draw it to watch the stroke order. Numbers show where each stroke starts.
和harmony, Japanese style, peace
- On
- ワ wa · オ o · カ ka
- Kun
- やわ(らぐ) yawa(ragu) · やわ(らげる) yawa(rageru) · なご(む) nago(mu)
- Strokes
- 8
- Level
- JLPT N3
Common word 和食 わしょく washoku, Japanese food; Japanese dish
平even, flat, peace
- On
- ヘイ hei · ビョウ byou · ヒョウ hyou
- Kun
- たい(ら) tai(ra) · たい(らげる) tai(rageru) · ひら hira
- Strokes
- 5
- Level
- JLPT N3
Common word 平日 へいじつ heijitsu, weekday; ordinary days (i.e. non-holiday)