往
往 — Journey
journey, travel, chase away, let go, going, before
On’yomiオウ (ou)
Kun’yomiいく (iku)
Kun’yomiいにしえ (inishie)
Kun’yomiさきに (sakini)
Kun’yomiゆく (yuku)
Stroke order (8 strokes)
Watch the strokes draw themselves in the correct order — numbers mark where each stroke starts. Diagram from KanjiVG (CC BY-SA).
Common words using 往
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 往復 | おうふく oufuku | making a round trip; going and returning; coming and going |
| 往来 | おうらい ourai | coming and going; traffic; road |
| 立ち往生 | たちおうじょう tachioujou | being brought to a standstill; being stranded; getting stuck |
| 往年 | おうねん ounen | years gone by; earlier years; former years |
| 往生 | おうじょう oujou | passing on to the next life; death; giving up a struggle |
| 往時 | おうじ ouji | the past; old times; bygone times |
Study notes
往 is a JLPT N1 kanji written with 8 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 5), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #1421 of the 2,500 most frequent kanji in newspapers. On’yomi (音読み) are Chinese-derived readings mostly used in compound words; kun’yomi (訓読み) are native Japanese readings, with any highlighted part written in hiragana after the kanji (okurigana).
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