Kanji #0020
金 means “gold / money”
金 means "gold" and "money." It is also the kanji for Friday, 金曜日 (KINYOUBI).
Watch: Gen and Shibamaru learn 金
The video loads from YouTube when you press play. Open on YouTube
Where 金 comes from
金 is often explained as bits of metal (the two short lines) buried in the earth (土) under a cover.
Stroke order (8 strokes)
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
Words with 金

お金おかね
OKANE
money

金曜日きんようび
KINYOUBI
Friday

金きん
KIN
gold

料金りょうきん
RYOUKIN
fee / fare
The part of each word written with 金 is shown in orange. Audio: the readings from our video.
Reading tips
- Read きん (KIN), 金 is "gold": 金メダル (KIN MEDARU, gold medal).
- お金 (OKANE) is "money." People usually say it with お in front.
- 料金 (RYOUKIN) is a fee or fare, like a train fare.
Other readings of 金
- コン黄金 おうごん OUGON gold — KON becomes GON here
- かな金づち かなづち KANAZUCHI hammer
These readings are not in the video. You will meet them later.
In the video
- Gen金曜日だ、やったー!It's Friday! Yay!
- Shibamaruもうすぐ しゅうまつだねThe weekend is almost here!
The money in the video is toy money drawn for the show, not real Japanese money.
Example sentences
お金が ありません。
OKANE GA ARIMASEN.
I have no money.
金曜日の よる、えいがを みます。
KINYOUBI NO YORU, EIGA O MIMASU.
I'm going to watch a movie on Friday night.
Keep learning kanji
GENKI I Textbook (3rd Edition)
BeginnerA popular first textbook used in many university courses. Each lesson has a dialogue, grammar explanations in English, and plenty of practice.
View on AmazonJapanese Short Stories for Beginners
Beginner20 easy stories set in everyday Japan, with an English translation, a summary, and a word list for each story.
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Stroke order data: KanjiVG © Ulrich Apel, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. The kanji graphics on this page are drawn from KanjiVG data (stroke width and color changed, animated) and are shared under the same license. Level: JLPT N5 is a study guide only; JLPT does not publish an official kanji list.