Onyomi: トウ · Kunyomi: ひがし · Meanings: east
Kanji for east
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The kanji 東 was born from a picture of the sun (日) rising behind a tree (木). In ancient times, people used this image to represent the direction where the sun appears each morning — the east. You can imagine looking through the branches and seeing the bright sun coming up, filling the world with light. Over time, this beautiful image became the symbol for “east,” the place of sunrise and new beginnings.
A sun (日) shining through the branches of a tree (木) — 東 shows the sunrise, the direction of the east.
Picture a tall tree standing on the horizon (木), and behind it, the bright sun (日) slowly rises, spreading light across the world — that’s 東, the east, the place where every new day begins.
| Word | Reading | Meaning | Meta |
|---|---|---|---|
| 東 | ひがし | east | common JLPT-N5 Noun |
| 東 | あずま | eastern Japan (esp. Kamakura or Edo, from perspective of Kyoto or Nara), eastern provinces | JLPT-N1 Noun |
| 東 | トン | east wind tile | Noun |
| 東洋 | とうよう | the East, the Orient, (East) Asia | common JLPT-N2 Noun |
| 東西 | とうざい | east and west | common JLPT-N2 Noun, Noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no' |
| 東風 | こち | east wind, spring wind | Noun |
| 東北 | とうほく | north-east | common Noun |
| 東京 | とうきょう | Tokyo | common Noun |
| 東部 | とうぶ | eastern part, the east (of a region) | common Noun |
| 東側 | ひがしがわ | east side, east bank | common Noun |