重 — “heavy / important” in Japanese

Grade 3じゅう, ちょう, おも

Radical ⾥ · radical 166 The building block this kanji is filed under

“heavy / important” in Japanese is 重, read juu, chou, omo (じゅう, ちょう, おも). It is a Grade 3 Kyōiku kanji, taught in year 3 of Japanese elementary school, and appears in words such as 重要 (important).

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What does 重 mean?

Full details, readings & example

Kanji	重
Meaning	heavy / important
Readings	じゅう, ちょう, おも
Grade	Grade 3 (Medium)
Curriculum	Kyōiku kanji · Japanese elementary school
Example	重要 (important)

How to read 重

重 is read juu (じゅう) or chou (ちょう) or omo (おも) depending on the word.

Words with 重

重要じゅうよう
貴重きちょう
体重たいじゅう
重要性じゅうようせい
尊重
慎重

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Kanji read the same way as 重

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

Read this character in a real sentence

Updated: 2026-08-28