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How to say "Idea" in Japanese | 発想

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

the Japanese word for "Idea" is "Hassou", written in japanese as "発想".

Here's a more detailed explanation:

The Japanese noun '発想 (はっそう)' refers to an 'idea' or 'concept', particularly one that is creative or innovative. It is often used in contexts where original thinking or a fresh perspective is involved. For example: His idea was brilliant「彼の発想は素晴らしかった」(かれのはっそうはすばらしかった). We need a new idea for this project「このプロジェクトには新しい発想が必要だ」(このプロジェクトにはあたらしいはっそうがひつようだ). The word can also imply the process of coming up with ideas, as in '発想力 (はっそうりょく)', which means 'creative thinking ability'.

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

The kanji "発" means "Departure" and can be read as "Hatsu". And The kanji "想" means "Concept" and can be read as "Sou" and "Omo".

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

What does "Hassou" mean in japanese?

"Hassou" means "Idea" .

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

What is the Kanji for Departure?What is the Kanji for concept?

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 "は" is read as "ha". The hiragana "つ" is read as "tsu". The hiragana "そ" is read as "so". The hiragana "う" is read as "u". The hiragana "お" is read as "o". And The hiragana "も" is read as "mo".

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.