乗 — “to ride / to board” in Japanese

Grade 3じょう, の

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

“to ride / to board” in Japanese is 乗, read jou, no (じょう, の). It is a Grade 3 Kyōiku kanji, taught in year 3 of Japanese elementary school, and appears in words such as 乗る (to board).

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What does 乗 mean?

Full details, readings & example

Kanji	乗
Meaning	to ride / to board
Readings	じょう, の
Grade	Grade 3 (Medium)
Curriculum	Kyōiku kanji · Japanese elementary school
Example	乗る (to board)

How to read 乗

乗 is read jou (じょう) or no (の) depending on the word.

Words with 乗

乗客じょうきゃく
乗るto ride / to board
搭乗
船乗り

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Kanji read the same way as 乗

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

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Updated: 2026-08-28