昼 — “daytime / noon” in Japanese

Grade 2ちゅう, ひる

Radical ⽇ · radical 72 The building block this kanji is filed under

“daytime / noon” in Japanese is 昼, read chuu, hiru (ちゅう, ひる). It is a Grade 2 Kyōiku kanji, taught in year 2 of Japanese elementary school, and appears in words such as 昼食 (lunch).

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What does 昼 mean?

Full details, readings & example

Kanji	昼
Meaning	daytime / noon
Readings	ちゅう, ひる
Grade	Grade 2 (Easy)
Curriculum	Kyōiku kanji · Japanese elementary school
Example	昼食 (lunch)

How to read 昼

昼 is read chuu (ちゅう) or hiru (ひる) depending on the word.

Words with 昼

昼間ひるま
昼前ひるまえ
昼食

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Kanji read the same way as 昼

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Updated: 2026-08-28