働 — “work” in Japanese

Grade 4どう, はたら

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

“work” in Japanese is 働, read dou, hatara (どう, はたら). It is a Grade 4 Kyōiku kanji, taught in year 4 of Japanese elementary school, and appears in words such as 労働 (labor).

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What does 働 mean?

Full details, readings & example

Kanji	働
Meaning	work
Readings	どう, はたら
Grade	Grade 4 (Upper)
Curriculum	Kyōiku kanji · Japanese elementary school
Example	労働 (labor)

How to read 働

働 is read dou (どう) or hatara (はたら) depending on the word.

Words with 働

労働

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Kanji read the same way as 働

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Updated: 2026-08-28