来 – JLPT N5 Kanji, Kanji for become, cause, come, due, next (With 3D Visualization)
Kanji for become, cause, come, due, next
Fast lookup with examples and clean stroke-order visualization.
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来
- Meanings
- become, cause, come, due, next
- Onyomi
- ライ
- Kunyomi
- く.る
- Name Readings
- くり, くる, ごろ, さ
- JLPT
- N5
- Grade
- 2
- Frequency
- -
- Kanji Writing Practice
- Practice
Stroke Order
Story
The kanji 来 originally showed a picture of a plant heavy with fruit or grain — something full and ready to be gathered. In ancient times, this image expressed the idea of “something that has come” or “something arriving,” like the harvest season coming near. Over time, it came to mean “to come,” “to arrive,” or “to approach,” symbolizing movement toward you or something reaching its time.
Short Story
A plant heavy with fruit — 来 represents something approaching or arriving, the sense of “to come.”
Mnemonic
Picture a tall stalk of grain growing closer to you as it ripens — the season of harvest is coming near. That feeling of something drawing closer is 来, the kanji for “to come” or “to arrive.”
Vocabulary Examples
| Word | Reading | Meaning | Meta |
|---|---|---|---|
| 来 | らい | next (year, spring, etc.), coming | common JLPT-N3 Prefix |
| 来週 | らいしゅう | next week | common JLPT-N5 Noun, Adverb (fukushi) |
| 来年 | らいねん | next year | common JLPT-N5 Noun, Adverb (fukushi) |
| 来月 | らいげつ | next month | common JLPT-N5 Noun, Adverb (fukushi) |
| 来日 | らいにち | coming to Japan, visit to Japan, arrival in Japan | common JLPT-N2 Noun, Suru verb, Intransitive verb |
| 来る | くる | to come (spatially or temporally), to approach, to arrive | common JLPT-N5 Kuru verb - special class, Intransitive verb |
| 来世 | らいせ | afterlife, the next world, the world beyond | Noun |
| 来客 | らいきゃく | visitor, caller | common Noun |
| 来春 | らいしゅん | next spring | common Noun, Adverb (fukushi) |
| 来訪 | らいほう | visit (from someone), call | common Noun, Suru verb, Intransitive verb |