As you may know, there are many Japanese kanji words that have unusual readings. Usually, they are the words of Japanese origin (和語, わご), and their kanjis were assigned after the Chinese characters had come from China, explaining why their readings are very different from standard ones. This article introduces such words with unusual readings so that you don’t get confused by them!
Table of Contents
Words Related to People
大人 (おとな): an adult
乙女 (おとめ): a pure girl
(e.g.) 恋(こい)する乙女: a pure girl in love
老若男女 (ろうにゃく なんにょ)
Meaning: “everyone (including the young, old, male, female)”
(e.g.) ゴルフは老若男女が楽(たの)しめるスポーツだ
Golf is a sport that everyone, including the young, old, male, female, can enjoy playing.
素人 (しろうと)： amateur, non-expert, ordinary people
(e.g.) 素人にもわかるように説明(せつめい)して
Please explain in a way amateurs/non-experts can understand
玄人 (くろうと): professional, expert (an antonym of 素人)
迷子 (まいご): a lost child
(cf) 迷子になる: get lost
他人 (たにん or ひと): others, someone else
(cf) 他人事 (ひとごと): someone else’s business (something you don’t care much)
博士 (はくし or はかせ): PhD, Dr., an expert
Words Including Numbers
二十歳 (にじゅっさい or はたち): 20 years old
(e.g.) 日本ではお酒(さけ)が飲(の)めるのは二十歳になってからです
In Japan, you can drink alcohol after 20 years old.
三十路（みそじ）: 30 years old
七夕 (たなばた): Tanabata (an annual festival on 7/7)
八百屋 (やおや): Fruit and vegetable shop
八百長 (やおちょう): match-fixing
= a match where one player loses on purpose to obtain an advantage (esp. money) for oneself
十八番 (じゅうはちばん or おはこ)
十八番 has two meanings (as well as readings):
- one’s forte/adept skills
- songs you sing very well (at karaoke)
Learn more (example sentences, its origin and pronunciation) at my previous post: 十八番 (ohako/jūhachiban): ‘Your Best Song to Sing at Karaoke’ in Japanese
Days in the Past or Future
一昨年 (おととし): two years ago
昨日 (きのう): yesterday
一昨日 (おととい or おとつい): a day before yesterday
明日 (あした): tomorrow
明後日 (あさって): a day after tomorrow
明々後日 (しあさって): two days after tomorrow
(cf) やのあさって (rarely used): there days after tomorrow
Learn more words at my previous post: Ashita, Asatte, Shiasatte, Yanoasatte: 13 Japanese Words Describing Dates
Days of a Month
一日 (ついたち): 1st
二日 (ふつか): 2nd
三日 (みっか): 3rd
四日 (よっか): 4th
五日 (いつか): 5th
六日 (むいか): 6th
七日 (なのか): 7th
八日 (ようか): 8th
九日 (ここのか): 9th
十日 (とおか): 10th
二十日 (はつか): 20th
Weather
梅雨（ばいう, つゆ）: Japanese rainy season in June-July
五月雨 (さみだれ): rain in May
吹雪 (ふぶき): blizzard (also used in Pokémon’s move)
日和 (ひより, びより): ideal weather for doing something outside
(e.g.) 今日は野球(やきゅう)日和(びより)だなー
Today, it’s such wonderful weather to play baseball!
Adjectives
美味（おい）しい: delicious, tasty
美味（うま）い: delicious, tasty
* うまい is also written as “旨（うま）い”, or in hiragana
不味（まず）い: taste bad
可笑（おか）しい: funny, weird
Other Common Words
田舎 (いなか): a countryside
お土産 (みやげ): a souvenir
浴衣 (ゆかた): yukata
台詞 (せりふ): a line (in a play, movie, etc)
大和 (やまと): Japanese (大和言葉 (やまとことば)= Japanese-origin words)
煙草 (たばこ): tobacco
断食 (だんじき): fasting
惚気（のろけ） [verb: 惚気(のろけ)る]
= To talk about one’s lovey-dovey happy relationship in a way that sounds a bit showy and braggy
(cf) 惚気話(のろけばなし) = that kind of talks
(e.g.)
彼女が「ただ声が聞きたかった」ってさっき電話してきたんだよね
My girlfriend just called me and said, “I just wanted to listen to your voice”.
惚気るのやめてくれる？笑
Would you stop talking about your lovey-dovey relationship? lol
Advanced (Even for Japanese People)
流石 (さすが):
= a word to use when you commend someone who has accomplished something great as expected
(e.g.) 流石、田中さんだね！ I knew you’ll make it, Tanaka-san!
(* 流石 is usually written in hiragana)
凸凹（でこぼこ）: bumpy (surface)
老舗 (しにせ): a store that has a long history
美人局 (つつもたせ)
= honeytrap where a male victim is enticed by an attractive woman into getting lucky, and later her partner in crime shows up and blackmails him.
目の当たりにする（まのあたりにする）
= witness something right before one’s eyes. 目 usually reads “め”, but “ま” in this phrase.
Multiple Readings of 雰囲気
雰囲気 (vibe, atmosphere) has multiple readings:
- In writing (or kanji test): ふんいき
- In speech: ふいんき
- In keyboard typing: both are accepted (on my Mac)
(cf) Slang: 雰囲気(ふいんき)イケメン: quasi-handsome
= a man who looks handsome at first, but in fact not really
See more explanations at my previous post “雰囲気イケメン (fuinki.ikemen): ‘Handsome-Vibe Men’ in Japanese Slang”
I thought this list would be a lot longer, especially since I just recently learned about 断食 （だんじき）and not だんしょく。
Thank you for the article though, I learned a lot.
I’ve added 断食 to the list, thanks! The list could be longer, but I focused on essential (and interesting) words (and the list would be comprehensive enough, I presume)