What is the Kanji for "Labor"?

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

The Japanese Kanji for "Labor" is "労".

This kanji has 1 reading:

Its onyomi reading is "Rou".

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 3 parts:

The radical "⺍" means "Small" . The radical "冖" means "Crown" . And The kanji "力" means "Power" and can be read as "Riki", "Ryoku", and "Chikara".

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

What does the kanji "労" mean in japanese?

"労" means "Labor".

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

Here are some words that use this kanji:

苦労: "Struggle". The Japanese verbal noun '苦労 (くろう)' means 'struggle'. It refers to experiencing difficulties, hardships or challenges in life. This word can be used to describe the act of overcoming obstacles or putting in great effort to achieve something. For example: The business owner struggled to keep the company afloat - (事業主は会社を維持するのに苦労した). He struggled to learn the language - (彼は言語を学ぶのに苦労した).

勤労: "Work". The Japanese verbal noun '勤労 (きんろう)' means 'work'. This noun refers to the act or process of engaging in labor, employment, or occupation. It can be used to describe one's job, profession, or general effort and exertion. For example: The workers take pride in their diligent work - (従業員は自分の勤労に誇りを持っている). Promoting worker rights is important - (勤労者の権利を促進することは重要である).

過労: "Overwork". 過労 (かろう) means 'overwork'. This noun refers to the state of being extremely tired or exhausted due to excessive work or labor. It describes a condition where a person has pushed themselves too hard and worked for too long without proper rest and recovery. For example: She is suffering from overwork - (彼女は過労に悩まされている). Overwork can lead to health problems - (過労は健康問題につながることもある).

労働者: "Worker". The Japanese noun '労働者 (ろうどうしゃ)' means 'worker'. This noun refers to a person who is employed to do physical or manual labor. It can be used to describe workers in a variety of industries, such as manufacturing, construction, or service jobs. For example: The factory workers - (工場の労働者). She is a hard-working employee - (彼女は勤勉な労働者です).

労働: "Work". The Japanese verbal noun '労働 (ろうどう)' means 'work'. It refers to physical or mental effort expended in the pursuit of a goal, such as employment or a task. '労働' is a common word used to describe the activity of working, either at a job or on a project. For example: Overtime work - (残業の労働), Hard work - (精一杯の労働)

疲労: "Fatigue". The verbal noun '疲労 (ひろう)' means 'fatigue'. This noun refers to a state of physical or mental exhaustion, often resulting from overwork or stress. It can be used to describe a general sense of tiredness or lack of energy. For example: The student felt fatigue after studying all night - (その学生は夜中勉強して疲労を感じた). Fatigue can make it difficult to concentrate or perform tasks effectively.

労力: "Effort". The Japanese noun '労力 (ろうりょく)' refers to the physical or mental effort required to accomplish a task. It suggests the amount of work, toil, or exertion needed to achieve something. For example: The project required a great deal of effort - (このプロジェクトには多大な労力が必要でした). She put a lot of effort into her studies - (彼女は勉強に多くの労力を注ぎました).

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 "ろ" is read as "ro". And The hiragana "う" is read as "u".

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.