去 — “to leave / last (year)” in Japanese

Grade 3きょ, こ, さ

Radical ⼛ · radical 28 The building block this kanji is filed under

“to leave / last (year)” in Japanese is 去, read kyo, ko, sa (きょ, こ, さ). It is a Grade 3 Kyōiku kanji, taught in year 3 of Japanese elementary school, and appears in words such as 去年 (last year).

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What does 去 mean?

Full details, readings & example

Kanji	去
Meaning	to leave / last (year)
Readings	きょ, こ, さ
Grade	Grade 3 (Medium)
Curriculum	Kyōiku kanji · Japanese elementary school
Example	去年 (last year)

How to read 去

去 is read kyo (きょ) or ko (こ) or sa (さ) depending on the word.

Words with 去

過去かこ
過去最多かこさいた
去年
除去
逝去

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Kanji read the same way as 去

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Updated: 2026-08-28