What is the Kanji for "Cause"?

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

The Japanese Kanji for "Cause" is "因".

This kanji has 2 readings:

Its kunyomi reading is "Yo".

Its onyomi reading is "In".

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 kanji "口" means "Mouth" and can be read as "Ku", "Kuchi", and "Kou". And The kanji "大" means "Big" and can be read as "Oo", "Dai", and "Tai".

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

What does the kanji "因" mean in japanese?

"因" means "Cause".

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

Here are some words that use this kanji:

原因: "Cause". The noun '原因 (げんいん)' means 'cause'. It refers to the source or reason that leads to something happening or existing. It can be used to describe what brought about an event, situation, or condition. For example: The main cause of the accident was a flat tire - (事故の主な原因はタイヤのパンクでした). What was the cause of the fire? - (火災の原因は何でしたか?)

因み: "By the way" or "Incidentally". The noun '因み (ちなみ)' means 'by the way' or 'incidentally'. It is used to introduce a side comment or additional information that is somewhat related to the main topic being discussed. It is often used to provide supplementary details or observations. For example: By the way, did you hear about the news? - (因みに、その知らせを聞きましたか?). We were talking about the weather, but incidentally, I have a trip planned this weekend - (天気の話をしていましたが、因みに、今週末旅行の予定があります).

要因: "Factor". The Japanese noun '要因 (よういん)' means 'factor'. This word is used to refer to an element, circumstance, or influence that contributes to a particular result or situation. It is often used in the context of analyzing or discussing the causes or reasons behind a certain event, outcome, or phenomenon. For example: The main factors contributing to the company's success were innovation and strong management - (同社の成功要因は革新性と強力な経営でした)。The key factors in the decision-making process were cost, timeline, and feasibility - (意思決定プロセスの重要な要因はコスト、タイムラインおよび実現可能性でした)。

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 "よ" is read as "yo". The hiragana "い" is read as "i". And The hiragana "ん" is read as "n".

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.