今 – JLPT N5 Kanji, Kanji for now (With 3D Visualization)
Kanji for now
Fast lookup with examples and clean stroke-order visualization.
Experience 今 in 3D! View the complete 3D Kanji model to understand its shape and stroke depth from every angle. Click the button below to see 今 in 3D and explore how each stroke forms this character.
Please support us by sharing!
Discover Related Kanji
Find visually similar kanji, commonly confused characters, related meanings, and useful words connected to 今.
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) |