How to say "Beginning" in Japanese | 最初

If you are wondering what's the Japanese word for "Beginning" you've come to the right place!

the Japanese word for "Beginning" is "Saisho", written in japanese as "最初".

Here's a more detailed explanation:

The Japanese noun '最初 (さいしょ)' means 'beginning' or 'the first'. It refers to the very start of something, such as an event, process, or period. This word is often used to emphasize the initial stage or point in time. For example: At the beginning, it was difficult「最初は難しかった」(さいしょはむずかしかった). Let's start from the beginning「最初から始めましょう」(さいしょからはじめましょう). It can also be used to describe the first occurrence of something, as in '最初の試み (さいしょのこころみ) (the first attempt)'. Note that '最初' is distinct from '始め (はじめ)', which can also mean 'beginning' but often refers to the start of an action or process rather than a specific point in time.

The Kanji are characters that represent meanings. As you can see, this word is made up of 2 Kanji:

The kanji "最" means "Most" and can be read as "Sai" and "Motto". And The kanji "初" means "Beginning" and "First" and can be read as "Sho", "Haji", "So" and "Hatsu".

Now, let's make sure you understand this word the other way around too.

What does "Saisho" mean in japanese?

"Saisho" means "Beginning" .

To learn more about the kanji in this word, checkout this pages:

To make really sure you learn this word, We've prepared an interactive lesson for you. You are going to learn the readings and meanings of this word and of the characters that comprise it.

But first, you need to know a little bit about Hiragana and Katakana.

Hiragana and katakana are japanese syllabaries, this means that each character represents a syllable.

This are the characters you need to know for this lesson:

The hiragana "さ" is read as "sa". The hiragana "い" is read as "i". The hiragana "も" is read as "mo". The hiragana "と" is read as "to". The hiragana "し" is read as "shi". The hiragana "は" is read as "ha". The hiragana "じ" is read as "ji". The hiragana "そ" is read as "so". And The hiragana "つ" is read as "tsu".

About kanji, you need to know that most Kanji have two types of readings: Kunyomi, based on native japanese pronunciation. And onyomi, based on chinese pronunciation.