倹 — “Frugal / Economy / Thrifty” in Japanese

Master (高手)けん, つま, つづまやか

Radical ⼈ · radical 9 The building block this kanji is filed under

“Frugal / Economy / Thrifty” in Japanese is 倹, read ken, tsuma, tsuzumayaka (けん, つま, つづまやか). It is a Jōyō kanji taught in Japanese secondary school (junior & senior high) — the 高手 · Master tier beyond the grade 1–6 Kyōiku set, and appears in words such as 倹約 (thrift).

Try it now

What does 倹 mean?

Full details, readings & example

Kanji	倹
Meaning	Frugal / Economy / Thrifty
Readings	けん, つま, つづまやか
Grade	Master (高手 · secondary school)
Curriculum	Jōyō kanji · Japanese secondary school (JLPT N1–N2)
Example	倹約 (thrift)

How to read 倹

倹 is read ken (けん) or tsuma (つま) or tsuzumayaka (つづまやか) depending on the word.

Words with 倹

倹約

Learn 倹 in real sentences — free

Read stories and news built from only the kanji you already know. KanjiSchool’s path covers all 2,136 Jōyō kanji — 1,018 ready to learn now.

Start free — no credit card →

Kanji read the same way as 倹

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

Updated: 2026-08-28