久 — “long time / lasting” in Japanese

Grade 5きゅう, く, ひさ

Radical ⼃ · radical 4 The building block this kanji is filed under

“long time / lasting” in Japanese is 久, read kyuu, ku, hisa (きゅう, く, ひさ). It is a Grade 5 Kyōiku kanji, taught in year 5 of Japanese elementary school, and appears in words such as 永久 (eternity).

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What does 久 mean?

Full details, readings & example

Kanji	久
Meaning	long time / lasting
Readings	きゅう, く, ひさ
Grade	Grade 5 (Hard)
Curriculum	Kyōiku kanji · Japanese elementary school
Example	永久 (eternity)

How to read 久

久 is read kyuu (きゅう) or ku (く) or hisa (ひさ) depending on the word.

Words with 久

永久
耐久
悠久

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Same sound, different character — the classic trap. Compare them side by side:

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Updated: 2026-08-28