What is the Kanji for "Emperor"?

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

The Japanese Kanji for "Emperor" is "皇".

This kanji has 2 readings:

Its onyomi readings are "Kou" and "Ou".

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 "王" means "King" and can be read as "Ou". And The kanji "白" means "White" and can be read as "Byaku", "Haku", "Shiro", and "Shira".

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

What does the kanji "皇" mean in japanese?

"皇" means "Emperor".

Japanese School Students learn this kanji in Sixth Grade, while foreigners may learn this kanji in preparation for the JLPT N1 exam.

Here are some words that use this kanji:

天皇: "Emperor". The Japanese noun '天皇 (てんのう)' refers to the Emperor of Japan. The Emperor is the head of state and the highest-ranking person in the Japanese imperial family. The position of Emperor is hereditary and considered a highly revered and important role in Japanese society and culture. For example: The Emperor visited the shrine - (天皇は神社を参拝した).

皇帝: "Emperor". The Japanese noun '皇帝 (こうてい)' refers to the supreme ruler or monarch of an empire. It is typically used to describe the head of state in countries with imperial or monarchical systems of government, such as the Emperor of Japan. The term carries a sense of great power, prestige and authority. For example: The emperor attended the ceremony - (皇帝はその式典に出席した). The emperor's palace - (皇帝の宮殿)

皇子: "Prince". The Japanese noun '皇子 (おうじ)' refers to a male member of an imperial or royal family, specifically a prince. This term is used to denote the son of an emperor or king. For example: The emperor's son is the crown prince - (天皇の子は皇太子)。The emperor's young prince - (まだ幼い皇子)。

皇后: "Empress". The Japanese noun '皇后 (こうごう)' refers to the empress, or the wife of the Emperor of Japan. The empress is considered a highly respected figure in Japanese culture and holds an important ceremonial role. For example: The empress attended the ceremony - (皇后が式典に出席した). The empress is the symbol of the Japanese Imperial Family - (皇后は日本の皇室の象徴である).

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 "こ" is read as "ko". The hiragana "う" is read as "u". And The hiragana "お" is read as "o".

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.