What is the Kanji for "Intention"?

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

The Japanese Kanji for "Intention" is "志".

This kanji has 3 readings:

Its kunyomi readings are "Kokoroza" and "Kokorozashi".

Its onyomi reading is "Shi".

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 "心" means "Heart" and can be read as "Shin" and "Kokoro". And The kanji "士" means "Samurai" and can be read as "Shi".

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

What does the kanji "志" mean in japanese?

"志" means "Intention".

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

Here are some words that use this kanji:

意志: "Will". The noun '意志 (いし)' means 'will'. It refers to the ability to make decisions and take action, based on one's own desires, determination, and intentions. It is an important concept in Japanese culture, often associated with perseverance, self-discipline, and the pursuit of one's goals. For example: His strong will allowed him to overcome the obstacles - (彼の強い意志が障害を乗り越えるのを可能にした). They demonstrated their will to succeed - (彼らは成功する意志を示した).

志: "Aspiration" or "Intention". The Japanese suffix '志 (し)' indicates a sense of aspiration, intention or strong will. It is often used in words that describe a person's strong desire, purpose or dedication towards a certain goal or idea. For example: 理想主義 (りそうしゅぎ) - idealism, aspirations - (理想への強い意志). 見学旅行 (けんがくりょこう) - school trip, field trip - (見学することを目的とした旅行).

志す: "Aspire". The verb '志す (こころざす)' means 'to aspire'. It expresses the desire or intention to accomplish or achieve something. This verb conveys a strong sense of ambition, purpose, and determination. For example: I aspire to become a doctor - (医者になることを志す). She aspires to win the competition - (彼女はその大会に勝つことを志している).

志向: "Orientation" or "Aspiration". The Japanese noun '志向 (しこう)' refers to one's orientation, direction or aspiration. It encompasses the goals, ambitions and motivations that guide a person's thoughts and actions. For example: His orientation is toward becoming a teacher - (彼の志向は教師になることです). She has a strong aspiration to succeed in her career - (彼女には強い志向がキャリアで成功することです).

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 "こ" is read as "ko". The hiragana "ろ" is read as "ro". And The hiragana "ざ" is read as "za".

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.