病 — “illness” in Japanese

Grade 3びょう, へい, やまい, や

Radical ⽧ · radical 104 The building block this kanji is filed under

“illness” in Japanese is 病, read byou, hei, yamai (びょう, へい, やまい, や). It is a Grade 3 Kyōiku kanji, taught in year 3 of Japanese elementary school, and appears in words such as 病院 (hospital).

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What does 病 mean?

Full details, readings & example

Kanji	病
Meaning	illness
Readings	びょう, へい, やまい, や
Grade	Grade 3 (Medium)
Curriculum	Kyōiku kanji · Japanese elementary school
Example	病院 (hospital)

How to read 病

病 is read byou (びょう) or hei (へい) or yamai (やまい) or ya (や) depending on the word.

Words with 病

病院びょういん
病気びょうき
病棟
疫病
臆病

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Kanji read the same way as 病

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Updated: 2026-08-28