What is the Kanji for "Alcohol" and "Sake"?

If you are wondering what is the Japanese Kanji for "Alcohol" and "Sake", you've come to the right place!

The Japanese Kanji for "Alcohol" and "Sake" is "酒".

This kanji has 3 readings:

Its kunyomi readings are "Saka" and "Sake".

Its onyomi reading is "Shu".

kunyomi readings are based on the pronunciation of native Japanese words, and onyomi readings are based on the Chinese pronunciation of the character.

If you visually breakdown this kanji, you can see is made up of 2 parts:

The radical "氵" means "Water" . And The radical "酉" means "Bird of the zodiac" .

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

What does the kanji "酒" mean in japanese?

"酒" means "Alcohol" and "Sake".

Japanese School Students learn this kanji in Third Grade, while foreigners may learn this kanji in preparation for the JLPT N3 exam.

Here are some words that use this kanji:

酒: "Sake" or "Alcohol". The Japanese word '酒 (さけ)' refers to alcoholic drinks or liquor in general. It is often used to specifically refer to the traditional Japanese rice wine known as 'sake'. However, it can also be used as a more general term for any type of alcoholic beverage. For example: I bought some sake - (私は酒を買いました). He drinks a lot of alcohol - (彼はたくさんの酒を飲みます).

酒屋: "Liquor store". The Japanese noun '酒屋 (さかや)' refers to a liquor store or a shop that specializes in the sale of alcoholic beverages such as sake, beer, wine, and other liquors. These types of stores are common in Japan and are an important part of the country's drinking culture. For example: I bought sake at the local liquor store - (地元の酒屋で日本酒を買いました).

禁酒: "Abstinence". The verbal noun '禁酒 (きんしゅ)' means 'abstinence'. It refers to the act or practice of refraining from consuming alcoholic beverages, usually for a specific period of time or for health reasons. '禁酒' is commonly used in contexts related to alcohol addiction treatment, religious or spiritual practices, and personal health goals. For example: I'm practicing alcohol abstinence - (私は禁酒をしています). Alcohol abstinence is recommended for this condition - (この症状には禁酒が推奨されています).

日本酒: "Sake". The noun '日本酒 (にほんしゅ)' refers to traditional Japanese rice wine, commonly known as 'sake'. It is a fermented alcoholic beverage made from rice, water and koji mold. Sake has a long history in Japanese culture and is often enjoyed during special occasions and meals. Examples: I enjoyed a glass of sake - (日本酒を一杯飲みました). Let's have some sake together - (一緒に日本酒を飲もう).

To make really sure you learn this Kanji, I've prepared an interactive lesson for you. You are going to learn the readings and meanings of this kanji.

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 "し" is read as "shi". The hiragana "さ" is read as "sa". The hiragana "か" is read as "ka". And The hiragana "け" is read as "ke".

Heres a quick tutorial on how to use it. You'll be asked three type of questions: meaning, reading, and writing.

For meanings questions all you have to do is type the english meaning. If there is more than one meaning, you have to include them all in your answer separating them by commas (,).

For Reading questions you have to type the reading in romaji (roman letters, our normal alphabet) and it'll be automatically converted to hiragana if necessary. If there is more than one reading, you have to include them all in your answer separating them by commas (,).

For Writing questions some options will appear and all you have to do is select the correct ones.