現 — “present / appear” in Japanese

Grade 5げん, あらわ

Radical ⽟ · radical 96 The building block this kanji is filed under

“present / appear” in Japanese is 現, read gen, arawa (げん, あらわ). It is a Grade 5 Kyōiku kanji, taught in year 5 of Japanese elementary school, and appears in words such as 現在 (the present).

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What does 現 mean?

Full details, readings & example

Kanji	現
Meaning	present / appear
Readings	げん, あらわ
Grade	Grade 5 (Hard)
Curriculum	Kyōiku kanji · Japanese elementary school
Example	現在 (the present)

How to read 現

現 is read gen (げん) or arawa (あらわ) depending on the word.

Words with 現

実現じつげん
現在げんざい
現象げんしょう
現金げんきん
表現ひょうげん
現代げんだい
現代人げんだいじん
現代社会げんだいしゃかい

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Kanji read the same way as 現

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

Read this character in a real sentence

Updated: 2026-08-28