災 — “disaster / calamity” in Japanese

Grade 5さい, わざわ

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“disaster / calamity” in Japanese is 災, read sai, wazawa (さい, わざわ). It is a Grade 5 Kyōiku kanji, taught in year 5 of Japanese elementary school, and appears in words such as 災害 (disaster).

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What does 災 mean?

Full details, readings & example

Kanji	災
Meaning	disaster / calamity
Readings	さい, わざわ
Grade	Grade 5 (Hard)
Curriculum	Kyōiku kanji · Japanese elementary school
Example	災害 (disaster)

How to read 災

災 is read sai (さい) or wazawa (わざわ) depending on the word.

Words with 災

災害さいがい
防災ぼうさい
被災地ひさいち
災害時さいがいじ
災禍

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Kanji read the same way as 災

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Updated: 2026-08-28