来 — “to come / next” in Japanese

Grade 2らい, く, き

Radical ⽊ · radical 75 The building block this kanji is filed under

“to come / next” in Japanese is 来, read rai, ku, ki (らい, く, き). It is a Grade 2 Kyōiku kanji, taught in year 2 of Japanese elementary school, and appears in words such as 来年 (next year).

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What does 来 mean?

Full details, readings & example

Kanji	来
Meaning	to come / next
Readings	らい, く, き
Grade	Grade 2 (Easy)
Curriculum	Kyōiku kanji · Japanese elementary school
Example	来年 (next year)

How to read 来

来 is read rai (らい) or ku (く) or ki (き) depending on the word.

Words with 来

来週らいしゅう
来年らいねん
未来みらい
将来しょうらい
由来ゆらい
従来
来賓

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Kanji read the same way as 来

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

礼らい courtesy / etiquette

Read this character in a real sentence

Updated: 2026-08-28