English
Shibamaru & Gen

Kanji Story #2

Why Does 雨 Mean "Rain"?

Kun-yomiあめ (AME), あま (AMA)
On-yomiウ (U)
  • JLPT N5
  • 8 strokes
  • 7-minute video

Learn Japanese kanji through a story. Why does 雨 mean "rain"? Lina, Shibamaru, and Gen get caught in the rain and discover how the sky, clouds, and raindrops became the JLPT N5 kanji for "rain" — with its origin, stroke order, readings, pitch accent, and everyday words.

Watch the story

The video loads from YouTube when you press play. Subtitles in 10 languages. Open on YouTube

The story

The sky is full of clouds, but Gen is sure it won't rain. Gen is a "hare-otoko," a person the sun always follows. Then Shibamaru says "ame" (rain), and Gen hears "ame" (candy).

The rain comes, and the three friends wait it out under a shop roof. Lina's sketch of the sky, the clouds, and the falling drops turns into the kanji 雨. They learn the rain radical, the readings AME and U, and how pitch tells rain and candy apart.

Where 雨 comes from

雨 began as a picture of rain: a line for the sky, clouds below it, and four falling raindrops.

On top of other kanji it becomes amekanmuri, the rain radical: 雪 (snow), 雲 (cloud), 電 (electricity).

Stroke order (8 strokes)

  1. 11
  2. 22
  3. 33
  4. 44
  5. 55
  6. 66
  7. 77
  8. 88

Kanji that appear in this story

Readings

  • Kun-yomi あめ (AME), あま (AMA)
  • On-yomi ウ (U)
  • Strokes 8
  • Pitch accent (Tokyo) 雨 (rain) is high-low; 飴 (candy) is low-high.

Listen: rain or candy?

  • AME (rain)high-low
  • AME (candy)low-high

Words with 雨

  • 雨あめ

    AME

    rain

  • 大雨おおあめ

    OOAME

    heavy rain

  • 雨宿りあまやどり

    AMAYADORI

    waiting out the rain under a roof

  • 雨天中止うてんちゅうし

    UTEN CHUUSHI

    canceled if it rains

  • 梅雨つゆ

    TSUYU

    the rainy season (a special reading)

Audio: the readings from the video.

Chapters

  1. 0:00 A rainy day and Lina's sketchbook
  2. 0:19 "It won't rain!"
  3. 0:40 Ame: rain or candy?
  4. 0:56 Caught in the rain
  5. 1:11 Lina's drawing turns into a kanji
  6. 1:39 Sky, clouds, raindrops
  7. 2:11 Amekanmuri: the rain radical
  8. 2:41 Stroke order
  9. 3:26 Readings: AME and U
  10. 3:51 Pitch accent: rain vs. candy
  11. 4:19 Words with 雨
  12. 5:41 Quiz
  13. 6:10 Candy after the rain

Full script

Shibamaru and Gen speak Japanese; Lina tells the story in English. Read along, then try saying the Japanese lines out loud.

Show the full script (80 lines)
  • LinaHi, I'm Lina. It's raining today... and that reminds me of something.
  • LinaThe other day, Gen said, "It won't rain!" Then my drawing turned into a kanji — again.
  • Shibamaruおはよう、ゲン。今日は雲が多いね。Morning, Gen. Lots of clouds today.
  • Genおはよう！ くもってるだけだ。雨はふらない！Morning! It's just cloudy. It won't rain!
  • Shibamaruかさ、持ってきた？Did you bring an umbrella?
  • Genいらない！ おれは晴れ男だからな！Don't need one! I'm a "hare-otoko" — the sun always follows me!
  • Linaわたしも、かさ、わすれた……I forgot my umbrella, too...
  • Shibamaruじゃあ、早めに帰ろう。Then let's head home early.
  • Shibamaru……あめ、ふりそう。...Looks like ame — rain — is coming.
  • Genあめ!? どこ!? おれ、いちご味がいい！Ame!? Candy!? Where? I want strawberry!
  • Shibamaruその「あめ」じゃないよ……Not that kind of "ame"...
  • LinaIn Japanese, "ame" can mean rain... or candy. Guess which one Gen heard.
  • Genん？ ……つめたい。Hm? ...Cold.
  • Genふ、ふってきた……！I-It's raining...!
  • Shibamaruゲン、ここで雨宿りしよう。Gen, let's wait out the rain here.
  • Gen晴れ男なのに……But I'm a hare-otoko...
  • Lina見て！Look!
  • Shibamaruあっ！ リナの絵、また「漢字」になってる！Oh! Lina, your drawing turned into a kanji again!
  • Genえっ、また!?What, again!?
  • Shibamaruそれが「雨」。空からふってくる、あめだよ。That's 雨, "ame" — the kind that falls from the sky.
  • Gen……食べられないほうの、あめか。...The kind you can't eat.
  • Shibamaruまず、上の横線は「空」。First, the line at the top is the sky.
  • Shibamaruその下は、空をおおう「雲」。Under it, the clouds covering the sky.
  • Shibamaruそして、この4つの点は……？And these four dots are...?
  • Gen雨つぶだ！ おれに当たったやつ！Raindrops! Like the ones that hit me!
  • Shibamaruそう。空と、雲と、ふってくる雨つぶ。だから「雨」なんだ。Right. The sky, the clouds, and falling raindrops. That's why this is "rain."
  • Lina雨 started as a picture: a line for the sky, clouds hanging below it, and raindrops falling. It's one of the kanji that came straight from a drawing.
  • Shibamaru雨が字の上にのると、少し平たくなるんだ。When 雨 sits on top of another kanji, it gets a little flatter.
  • LinaThis shape is called "amekanmuri" — the rain radical. You'll find it in kanji about the weather: 雪, snow. 雲, cloud.
  • Shibamaru電車の「電」にも、雨があるよ。There's rain in 電, too — like in 電車, "train."
  • Gen電車にも雨が!?Rain in a train!?
  • Lina電 means electricity. Long ago, it meant lightning — the flash in the rain clouds. That's why it has rain on top.
  • Genよし、書くぞ！ 雨は8画だ！Alright, let's write it! 雨 has 8 strokes!
  • Genまず、空！First, the sky!
  • Gen雲の左！The left side of the cloud!
  • Gen雲の右。かぎみたいに曲げる！The right side — bend it like a hook!
  • Genまん中に、たて！A line down the middle!
  • Gen雨つぶ、左の上！Raindrop, top left!
  • Gen左の下！Bottom left!
  • Gen右の上！Top right!
  • Gen右の下！ 完成！Bottom right! Done!
  • Shibamaru点は、左の2つが先。それから右の2つ。The dots: the two on the left first, then the two on the right.
  • LinaTip: draw the middle line before the dots. Then do the left dots, top to bottom, and the right dots, top to bottom.
  • Shibamaruいっしょに書こう。いち、に、さん、し、ご、ろく、なな、はち！Let's write it together. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight!
  • Genこれは、なんて読む？How do you read this?
  • Shibamaruあめ。AME
  • Shibamaruウ。U
  • Shibamaru「あめ」は訓読み。ほかの言葉とくっつくと「あま」になることもあるよ。「ウ」は音読み。"Ame" is the kun-yomi. Joined with other words, it sometimes becomes "ama." "U" is the on-yomi.
  • LinaOh, I get it! Ame is the Japanese word, and it can turn into ama inside other words. And u is the on-yomi, from old Chinese.
  • Shibamaruそれから、「雨」と「あめ（キャンディ）」は、音の高さがちがうんだ。Also, "rain" and "candy" are said with a different pitch.
  • Shibamaruあめ。（雨）AME (rain)
  • Shibamaruあめ。（飴）AME (candy)
  • LinaListen. Rain starts high and drops. Candy starts low and goes up. In Tokyo Japanese, pitch can change the meaning.
  • Genあめ……あめ……。おなじに聞こえる……Ame... ame... They sound the same to me...
  • Shibamaruだいじょうぶ。聞いていると、わかってくるよ。Don't worry. Keep listening, and you'll start to hear it.
  • Shibamaru雨の日は、家で本を読むのが好き。On rainy days, I like reading books at home.
  • Shibamaru大雨OOAME — heavy rain
  • Gen大雨だ！ 今日は外に出ないぞ。It's pouring! I'm staying inside today.
  • Shibamaru雨宿りAMAYADORI — waiting out the rain
  • Shibamaruさっき、お店の前で雨宿りしたね。Earlier, we waited out the rain in front of the shop.
  • LinaAmayadori means waiting under a roof until the rain stops. Here, ame becomes ama.
  • Shibamaru雨天中止UTEN CHUUSHI — canceled if it rains
  • Gen今夜は花火だ！ ……「雨天中止」？Fireworks tonight! ..."Uten chuushi"?
  • Shibamaru雨がふったら、なしってこと。It means it's canceled if it rains.
  • Genてるてる坊主を作らなきゃ！I've gotta make a teru teru bozu!
  • LinaHere's the on-yomi, u. 雨天 means rainy weather. You'll see 雨天中止 on posters for events in Japan. And a teru teru bozu is a little doll people hang up to wish for sunny weather.
  • Shibamaru梅雨TSUYU — the rainy season
  • Shibamaru6月は梅雨。毎日のように雨がふるよ。June is "tsuyu," the rainy season. It rains almost every day.
  • Genつゆ!? そばのつゆか！ おなかすいた！Tsuyu!? Like the dipping sauce for soba? Now I'm hungry!
  • Shibamaruその「つゆ」じゃないよ……雨が多い季節のこと。Not that "tsuyu"... It's the season with lots of rain.
  • Genまた、まちがえた……Wrong again...
  • Lina梅雨, tsuyu, is a special reading. You just learn it as a whole word.
  • Shibamaru雨の字、いろいろあったね。We found lots of words with 雨!
  • Gen問題だ！ わかるかな？Quiz time! Can you get it?
  • Gen星だと思った人、おれと同じだな！If you thought "stars," you're just like me!
  • Shibamaruはい、ゲン。あめ。Here, Gen. Ame.
  • Genど、どっちのあめ!?W-which "ame"!?
  • Shibamaru食べるほう！The kind you eat!
  • Genやった！ 雨のあとの、あめだ！Yay! Candy after the rain!
  • LinaSo next time you hear "ame," listen closely — is it rain, or candy?

Keep learning kanji

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.