就 — “to take office / to begin” in Japanese

Grade 6しゅう, じゅ, つ

Radical ⼪ · radical 43 The building block this kanji is filed under

“to take office / to begin” in Japanese is 就, read shuu, ju, tsu (しゅう, じゅ, つ). It is a Grade 6 Kyōiku kanji, taught in year 6 of Japanese elementary school, and appears in words such as 就職 (finding a job).

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What does 就 mean?

Full details, readings & example

Kanji	就
Meaning	to take office / to begin
Readings	しゅう, じゅ, つ
Grade	Grade 6 (Hardest)
Curriculum	Kyōiku kanji · Japanese elementary school
Example	就職 (finding a job)

How to read 就

就 is read shuu (しゅう) or ju (じゅ) or tsu (つ) depending on the word.

Words with 就

就職

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Kanji read the same way as 就

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

Updated: 2026-08-28