| 141 | A Guide To Reading and Writing Japanese (Florence Sakade) |
| 228 | A Guide To Reading and Writing Japanese 3rd edition (Henshall, Seeley and De Groot) |
| 208 | A Guide To Remembering Japanese Characters (Kenneth G. Henshall) |
| 84 | A New Dictionary of Kanji Usage |
| 2110 | Classic Nelson (Andrew Nelson) |
| 58 | Essential Kanji (P.G. O’Neill) |
| 186 | Japanese Kanji Flashcards (Max Hodges and Tomoko Okazaki) |
| 623 | Japanese Names (P.G. O’Neill) |
| 3.9 | Japanese for Busy People |
| 18 | Kanji and Kana (Spahn and Hadamitzky) |
| 18 | Kanji and Kana, 2nd Edition (Spahn and Hadamitzky) |
| 106 | Kanji in Context (Nishiguchi and Kono) |
| 984 | Kodansha Compact Kanji Guide |
| 1060 | Kodansha Kanji Dictionary (Jack Halpern) |
| 572 | Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary (Jack Halpern) |
| 756 | Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary, 2nd Edition (Jack Halpern) |
| 20 | Les Kanjis dans la tete (Yves Maniette) |
| 13805 | Morohashi |
| 855 | New Japanese English Character Dictionary (Jack Halpern) |
| 2435 | New Nelson (John Haig) |
| 20 | Remembering The Kanji (James Heisig) |
| 20 | Remembering The Kanji, 6th edition (James Heisig) |
| 152 | The Kanji Way to Japanese Language Power (Dale Crowley) |
| 167 | Tuttle Kanji Cards (Alexander Kask) |
Jōyō kanji, taught in grade 2
JLPT level N4
67 of 2500 most used kanji in newspapers
Stroke order
On reading compounds
- 明 【メイ】 brightness, discernment, insight, an eye (for), eyesight, vision, nth year in the Meiji era (1868.9.8-1912.7.30)
- 明暗 【メイアン】 light and darkness, light and shade
- 公明 【コウメイ】 fairness, openness, impartiality, Komeito (Japanese political party)
- 英明 【エイメイ】 intelligent, wise, bright, brilliant, clear-sighted
- 明 【ミョウ】 vidya (wisdom), mantra, the coming (July 4, etc.)
- 明日 【アシタ】 tomorrow, near future
- 光明 【コウミョウ】 bright light, hope, bright future, light emanating from a buddha or bodhisattva, symbolizing their wisdom and compassion
- 内明 【ナイミョウ】 adhyatma vidya (one of the five sciences of ancient India), science of spirituality
- 明 【ミン】 Ming dynasty (of China; 1368-1644)
- 明楽 【ミンガク】 Ming-era Chinese music (popularized in Japan during the early 17th century)
- 胡志明 【ホーチミン】 Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969), Nguyen Tat Thanh, Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam)
Kun reading compounds
- 明かり 【あかり】 light, illumination, glow, gleam, lamp, light
- 明り先 【あかりさき】 source of light
- 明るい 【あかるい】 light, well-lit, well-lighted, bright (of a colour), brightly-coloured, brightly-colored, cheerful, bright, spirited, sunny (e.g. disposition), encouraging (for the future of a project, etc.), promising, of fair prospects, familiar (with), knowledgeable (about), well versed (in), fair (e.g. politics), clean, impartial
- 明るむ 【あかるむ】 to brighten, to grow light
- 明らむ 【あからむ】 to become luminous at dawn (esp. the sky)
- 明らか 【あきらか】 clear, obvious, evident, plain, definite, bright, light
- 明らかにする 【あきらかにする】 to make clear, to clarify, to disclose, to make public
- 開ける 【あける】 to open (a door, etc.), to unwrap (e.g. parcel, package), to unlock, to open (for business, etc.), to empty, to remove, to make space, to make room, to move out, to clear out, to be away from (e.g. one's house), to leave (temporarily), to dawn, to grow light, to end (of a period, season), to begin (of the New Year), to leave (one's schedule) open, to make time (for), to make (a hole), to open up (a hole)
- 開く 【あく】 to open (e.g. doors), to open (e.g. business, etc.), to be empty, to be vacant, to be available, to be free, to be open (e.g. neckline, etc.), to have been opened (of one's eyes, mouth, etc.), to come to an end, to open (one's eyes, mouth, etc.), to have a hole, to form a gap, to have an interval (between events)
- 明くる 【あくる】 next (day, morning, etc.), following
- 明くる 【あくる】 next (day, morning, etc.), following
- あくる日 【あくるひ】 next day, following day
- 明かす 【あかす】 to pass (the night), to spend, to reveal, to divulge, to disclose, to expose, to prove, to verify
Readings
- Japanese names:
- あきら、 あけ、 あす、 きら、 け、 さや、 さやか、 とし、 はる、 み、 め
- Korean:
- myeong
Spanish
- luz
- brillo
- claridad
- listo
- inteligente
- claro
- luminoso
- iluminar
- aclarar
Portuguese
- brilhante
- luz
French
- clair
- lumière
| 3846 | 2001 Kanji |
| 4c4.1 | The Kanji Dictionary |
| 1-4-4 | SKIP code |
| 6702.0 | Four corner code |
| 1-44-32 | JIS X 0208-1997 kuten code |
| 660e | Unicode hex code |
Jōyō kanji, taught in grade 4
JLPT level N3
152 of 2500 most used kanji in newspapers
Stroke order
On reading compounds
- 初夏 【ショカ】 early summer, fourth month of the lunar calendar
- 初演 【ショエン】 first performance
- 年初 【ネンショ】 beginning of the year
- 原初 【ゲンショ】 origin, source, beginning, starting point
Kun reading compounds
- 始め 【はじめ】 beginning, start, outset, opening, first (in line, etc.), origin, such as ..., not to mention ...
- 初めて 【はじめて】 for the first time, only after ... is it ..., only when ... do you ..., not until ... do you ..., first time, (one's) first
- 月初め 【つきはじめ】 beginning of the month
- 初めて 【はじめて】 for the first time, only after ... is it ..., only when ... do you ..., not until ... do you ..., first time, (one's) first
- 初 【はつ】 first, new
- 初夏 【しょか】 early summer, fourth month of the lunar calendar
- 業界初 【ぎょうかいはつ】 the industry's first ...
- 人生初 【じんせいはつ】 (for the) first time in one's life
Readings
- Japanese names:
- し、 はっ
- Korean:
- cho
Spanish
- comienzo
- primero
Portuguese
- primeiros tempos
- começo
French
- première fois
- commencement
| 428 | A Guide To Reading and Writing Japanese (Florence Sakade) |
| 535 | A Guide To Reading and Writing Japanese 3rd edition (Henshall, Seeley and De Groot) |
| 507 | A Guide To Remembering Japanese Characters (Kenneth G. Henshall) |
| 261 | A New Dictionary of Kanji Usage |
| 4215 | Classic Nelson (Andrew Nelson) |
| 636 | Essential Kanji (P.G. O’Neill) |
| 353 | Japanese Kanji Flashcards (Max Hodges and Tomoko Okazaki) |
| 427 | Japanese Names (P.G. O’Neill) |
| 2.20 | Japanese for Busy People |
| 679 | Kanji and Kana (Spahn and Hadamitzky) |
| 692 | Kanji and Kana, 2nd Edition (Spahn and Hadamitzky) |
| 440 | Kanji in Context (Nishiguchi and Kono) |
| 181 | Kodansha Compact Kanji Guide |
| 1433 | Kodansha Kanji Dictionary (Jack Halpern) |
| 759 | Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary (Jack Halpern) |
| 1031 | Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary, 2nd Edition (Jack Halpern) |
| 411 | Les Kanjis dans la tete (Yves Maniette) |
| 1911 | Morohashi |
| 1116 | New Japanese English Character Dictionary (Jack Halpern) |
| 469 | New Nelson (John Haig) |
| 404 | Remembering The Kanji (James Heisig) |
| 431 | Remembering The Kanji, 6th edition (James Heisig) |
| 279 | The Kanji Way to Japanese Language Power (Dale Crowley) |
| 483 | Tuttle Kanji Cards (Alexander Kask) |
| 645 | 2001 Kanji |
| 5e2.1 | The Kanji Dictionary |
| 1-5-2 | SKIP code |
| 3722.0 | Four corner code |
| 1-29-73 | JIS X 0208-1997 kuten code |
| 521d | Unicode hex code |