What is the Kanji for "Friend"?

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

The Japanese Kanji for "Friend" is "友".

This kanji has 2 readings:

Its kunyomi reading is "Tomo".

Its onyomi reading is "Yuu".

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 "𠂇" means "Cliff" . And The kanji "又" means "Again" and can be read as "Mata" and "Mata".

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

What does the kanji "友" mean in japanese?

"友" means "Friend".

Japanese School Students learn this kanji in Second Grade, while foreigners may learn this kanji in preparation for the JLPT N5 exam.

Here are some words that use this kanji:

友達: "Friend". The Japanese word '友達 (ともだち)' means 'friend'. It refers to a person with whom one has a close social relationship and enjoys spending time with. This word is commonly used to describe a close companion or someone with whom one has a mutual bond. For example: He is my best friend - (彼は私の一番の友達です). I want to hang out with my friends - (友達と遊びたいです).

友人: "Friend". The Japanese noun '友人 (ゆうじん)' means 'friend'. This word is used to refer to a close personal acquaintance or a person with whom one has a bond of mutual affection and trust. It can be used to describe friends from school, work, or other social circles. For example: My friend is coming over - (友人が来るよ). We are good friends - (私たちは良い友人です).

友: "Friend". The Japanese noun '友 (とも)' means 'friend'. This word refers to a close, personal relationship between two or more people. It implies a high level of trust, mutual understanding, and a bond that goes beyond casual acquaintanceship. A friend is someone you can rely on and with whom you share experiences, thoughts, and feelings. For example: He is my good friend - (彼は私の良い友だちです). Let's go with our friends - (友達と一緒に行きましょう).

友情: "Friendship". The Japanese noun '友情 (ゆうじょう)' means 'friendship'. This word describes the close, affectionate bond between two or more people. It implies a deep, mutual understanding and care for one another. For example: Their friendship has lasted for many years - (彼らの友情は長年続いています). We cherish our friendship - (私たちは友情を大切にしています).

親友: "Best friend". The noun '親友 (しんゆう)' means 'best friend'. This word refers to an extremely close, intimate, and trusting friendship between two people. It implies a deeper level of connection and loyalty beyond a regular friendship. '親友' is often used to describe someone who you can completely confide in and rely on. For example: He is my best friend - (彼は私の親友です). They have been best friends since childhood - (彼らは子供の頃から親友だった).

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 "ゆ" is read as "yu". The hiragana "う" is read as "u". The hiragana "と" is read as "to". And The hiragana "も" is read as "mo".

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.