昨
昨 — Yesterday
yesterday, previous
On’yomiサク (saku)
Kun’yomi—
Stroke order (9 strokes)
Watch the strokes draw themselves in the correct order — numbers mark where each stroke starts. Diagram from KanjiVG (CC BY-SA).
Common words using 昨
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 昨年 | さくねん sakunen | last year |
| 一昨年 | おととし ototoshi | year before last |
| 昨秋 | さくしゅう sakushuu | autumn of last year; fall of last year |
| 昨年度 | さくねんど sakunendo | previous year (fiscal, academic, etc.) |
| 昨春 | さくしゅん sakushun | last spring; the spring of last year |
| 昨日 | きのう kinou | yesterday |
Study notes
昨 is a JLPT N3 kanji written with 9 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 4), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #226 of the 2,500 most frequent kanji in newspapers. On’yomi (音読み) are Chinese-derived readings mostly used in compound words; kun’yomi (訓読み) are native Japanese readings, with any highlighted part written in hiragana after the kanji (okurigana).
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