飯 — “cooked rice / meal” in Japanese

Grade 4はん, めし

Radical ⾷ · radical 184 The building block this kanji is filed under

“cooked rice / meal” in Japanese is 飯, read han, meshi (はん, めし). It is a Grade 4 Kyōiku kanji, taught in year 4 of Japanese elementary school, and appears in words such as 夕飯 (dinner).

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What does 飯 mean?

Full details, readings & example

Kanji	飯
Meaning	cooked rice / meal
Readings	はん, めし
Grade	Grade 4 (Upper)
Curriculum	Kyōiku kanji · Japanese elementary school
Example	夕飯 (dinner)

How to read 飯

飯 is read han (はん) or meshi (めし) depending on the word.

Words with 飯

夕飯
炊飯器

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Kanji read the same way as 飯

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Updated: 2026-08-28