Onyomi: ジ · Kunyomi: -どき, とき · Meanings: hour, time
Kanji for hour, time
Fast lookup with examples and clean stroke-order visualization.
Experience 時 in 3D! View the complete 3D Kanji model to understand its shape and stroke depth from every angle. Click the button below to see 時 in 3D and explore how each stroke forms this character.
Please support us by sharing!
Find visually similar kanji, commonly confused characters, related meanings, and useful words connected to 時.
The kanji 時 combines 日 (sun, day) and 寺 (temple). In ancient times, temples marked the passing of hours by observing the sun’s movement and ringing bells to signal each period of the day. The left side, 日, represents the sun that moves through the sky, while the right side, 寺, represents the temple as the keeper of time. Together, they form the image of “temple and sun” — the origin of how time was measured, giving us the meaning of “time” or “hour.”
Formed from the sun (日) and a temple (寺), this kanji shows how time was once measured by the sun’s movement and temple bells. 時 represents time, hour, or moment.
This kanji declares: the sun meets the temple — 時 means time, the sacred rhythm marked by sunlight and the ringing of temple bells.
| Word | Reading | Meaning | Meta |
|---|---|---|---|
| 時 | とき | time, hour, moment | common JLPT-N3 Noun |
| 時 | じ | hour, o'clock | common Suffix |
| 時 | どき | time for ..., time to ... | Noun, used as a suffix |
| 時間 | じかん | time | common JLPT-N5 Noun |
| 時計 | とけい | clock, watch, timepiece | common JLPT-N5 Noun |
| 時々 | ときどき | sometimes, occasionally, at times, from time to time, now and then, once in a while, at intervals | common JLPT-N5 Adverb (fukushi), Noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no' |
| 時間割 | じかんわり | timetable (esp. a weekly school timetable), schedule | common JLPT-N2 Noun |
| 時代 | じだい | period, epoch, era, age | common JLPT-N4 Noun |
| 時刻表 | じこくひょう | timetable, schedule | common JLPT-N1 Noun |
| 時期 | じき | time, season, period, phase, stage | common JLPT-N3 Noun, Adverb (fukushi) |