How to say "Buddha" in Japanese
If you are wondering what's the Japanese word for "Buddha" you've come to the right place!
the Japanese word for "Buddha" is "Hotoke", written in japanese as "仏".
Here's a more detailed explanation:
The Japanese noun '仏 (ほとけ)' primarily refers to 'Buddha', the enlightened being in Buddhism. It can also refer to Buddhist statues or images representing Buddha. This term is deeply rooted in religious and spiritual contexts, often used in temples, during religious ceremonies, or in discussions about Buddhism. For example: I prayed to the Buddha「仏に祈った」(ほとけにいのった). The Buddha statue is very old「その仏像はとても古い」(そのぶつぞうはとてもふるい). Additionally, '仏' can sometimes be used metaphorically to describe someone who is very kind or saintly, though this usage is less common.
The Kanji are characters that represent meanings. As you can see, this word is made up of 1 Kanji:
The kanji "仏" means "Buddha" and can be read as "Butsu" and "Hotoke"
Now, let's make sure you understand this word the other way around too.
What does "Hotoke" mean in japanese?
"Hotoke" means "Buddha" .
To learn more about the kanji in this word, checkout this pages:
What is the Kanji for Buddha?If you also want to learn how to write this word in Japanese, you can checkout this page:
How to write "Buddha" in Japanese
To make really sure you learn this word, I'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 "ぶ" is read as "bu". The hiragana "つ" is read as "tsu". The hiragana "ほ" is read as "ho". The hiragana "と" is read as "to". And The hiragana "け" is read as "ke".
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.