常 — “constant / usual” in Japanese

Grade 5じょう, つね, とこ

Radical ⼱ · radical 50 The building block this kanji is filed under

“constant / usual” in Japanese is 常, read jou, tsune, toko (じょう, つね, とこ). It is a Grade 5 Kyōiku kanji, taught in year 5 of Japanese elementary school, and appears in words such as 日常 (daily life).

Try it now

What does 常 mean?

Full details, readings & example

Kanji	常
Meaning	constant / usual
Readings	じょう, つね, とこ
Grade	Grade 5 (Hard)
Curriculum	Kyōiku kanji · Japanese elementary school
Example	日常 (daily life)

How to read 常

常 is read jou (じょう) or tsune (つね) or toko (とこ) depending on the word.

Words with 常

非常ひじょう
日常

Learn 常 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 常

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

Read this character in a real sentence

Updated: 2026-08-28