業 — “occupation / business” in Japanese

Grade 3ぎょう, ごう, わざ

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

“occupation / business” in Japanese is 業, read gyou, gou, waza (ぎょう, ごう, わざ). It is a Grade 3 Kyōiku kanji, taught in year 3 of Japanese elementary school, and appears in words such as 工業 (industry).

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What does 業 mean?

Full details, readings & example

Kanji	業
Meaning	occupation / business
Readings	ぎょう, ごう, わざ
Grade	Grade 3 (Medium)
Curriculum	Kyōiku kanji · Japanese elementary school
Example	工業 (industry)

How to read 業

業 is read gyou (ぎょう) or gou (ごう) or waza (わざ) depending on the word.

Words with 業

開業かいぎょう
産業さんぎょう
商業しょうぎょう
営業えいぎょう
授業じゅぎょう
作業さぎょう
工業
農業
卒業
職業

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Kanji read the same way as 業

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

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Updated: 2026-08-28