少 — “few / little” in Japanese

Grade 2しょう, すこ, すく

Radical ⼩ · radical 42 The building block this kanji is filed under

“few / little” in Japanese is 少, read shou, suko, suku (しょう, すこ, すく). It is a Grade 2 Kyōiku kanji, taught in year 2 of Japanese elementary school, and appears in words such as 少し (a little).

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What does 少 mean?

Full details, readings & example

Kanji	少
Meaning	few / little
Readings	しょう, すこ, すく
Grade	Grade 2 (Easy)
Curriculum	Kyōiku kanji · Japanese elementary school
Example	少し (a little)

How to read 少

少 is read shou (しょう) or suko (すこ) or suku (すく) depending on the word.

Words with 少

減少げんしょう
少しfew / little

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Kanji read the same way as 少

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

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Updated: 2026-08-28