What is the Kanji for "Servant" and "Retainer"?

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

The Japanese Kanji for "Servant" and "Retainer" is "臣".

This kanji has 2 readings:

Its onyomi readings are "Jin" and "Shin".

kunyomi readings are based on the pronunciation of native Japanese words, and onyomi readings are based on the Chinese pronunciation of the character.

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

What does the kanji "臣" mean in japanese?

"臣" means "Servant" and "Retainer".

Japanese School Students learn this kanji in Fourth Grade, while foreigners may learn this kanji in preparation for the JLPT N2 exam.

Here are some words that use this kanji:

大臣: "Minister". The Japanese noun '大臣 (だいじん)' refers to a minister, which is a high-ranking government official who is in charge of a particular government department or ministry. Ministers are part of the cabinet and play a key role in the political leadership of a country. For example: The finance minister gave a press conference - (財務大臣が記者会見をしました). The new health minister was appointed yesterday - (新しい厚生大臣が昨日任命されました).

家臣: "Retainer". The Japanese noun '家臣 (かしん)' refers to a retainer or feudal vassal who served a lord or daimyo in feudal Japan. Retainers were bound by strong loyalty and obligation to their lord, and often served in military or administrative roles. For example: The lord's retainers were prepared to defend the castle - (殿様の家臣は城を守る用意がされていた). The daimyo depended on his capable retainers - (大名は能力のある家臣に頼っていた).

総理大臣: "Prime minister". The Japanese word '総理大臣 (そうりだいじん)' refers to the head of the Cabinet and the chief executive of the government of Japan. The prime minister is the leader of the majority party in the National Diet and is responsible for appointing and dismissing other ministers. The prime minister holds a significant amount of political power and is considered the most important political figure in Japan. For example: The current prime minister of Japan is Fumio Kishida - (現在の日本の総理大臣は岸田文雄です).

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 "じ" is read as "ji". The hiragana "ん" is read as "n". And The hiragana "し" is read as "shi".

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.