今 – JLPT N5 Kanji, Kanji for now (With 3D Visualization)
Kanji for now
Fast lookup with examples and clean stroke-order visualization.
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今
- Meanings
- now
- Onyomi
- コン
- Kunyomi
- いま
- Name Readings
- な
- JLPT
- N5
- Grade
- 2
- Frequency
- -
- Kanji Writing Practice
- Practice
Stroke Order
Story
The kanji 今 began as a picture of a person beneath a cover or roof, with lines representing hands holding something up. In ancient script, it expressed the moment of presenting or offering something right now — this instant, the present moment. Over time, that image of “what is before you at this moment” evolved into the meaning of “now.” It carries the sense of the present — the point in time where action and awareness meet.
Short Story
Shows a person under a cover holding something before them — the image of what is happening right now, in the present moment. 今 means “now,” the current time.
Mnemonic
This kanji declares: what is beneath the roof and before your eyes is the present — 今 stands for now, the living moment in front of you.
Vocabulary Examples
| Word | Reading | Meaning | Meta |
|---|---|---|---|
| 今 | いま | now, the present time, just now, soon, immediately | common JLPT-N5 Noun, Noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no', Adverb (fukushi) |
| 今 | こん | the current ..., this | Prefix |
| 今日 | きょう | today, this day | common JLPT-N3 JLPT-N5 Noun, Adverb (fukushi) |
| 今朝 | けさ | this morning | common JLPT-N5 Noun, Adverb (fukushi) |
| 今年 | ことし | this year | common JLPT-N5 Noun, Adverb (fukushi) |
| 今週 | こんしゅう | this week | common JLPT-N5 Noun, Adverb (fukushi) |
| 今月 | こんげつ | this month | common JLPT-N5 Noun, Adverb (fukushi) |
| 今晩 | こんばん | tonight, this evening | common JLPT-N5 Noun, Adverb (fukushi) |
| 今度 | こんど | this time, now | common JLPT-N4 Noun, Adverb (fukushi) |
| 今夜 | こんや | this evening, tonight | common JLPT-N4 Noun, Adverb (fukushi) |