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Kanji for Money

The kanji most commonly used for "Money" are 金、銭、財.

Kanji that mean Money

  • metal, gold, money

    Onyomi: gon, kin, kon Kunyomi: gane, kana, kane 8 strokes Jōyō

  • money, coin

    Also associated with wealth.

    Onyomi: sen, zen Kunyomi: suki, zeni 14 strokes Jōyō

  • wealth, property

    Also associated with talent.

    Onyomi: sai, zai, zoku Kunyomi: takara 10 strokes Jōyō

金 (kin / kane) does double duty: it is gold the metal and money in general — お金 (okane) is the everyday word for money, 料金 a fee, 金曜日 Friday (“gold day”). The character shows nuggets under earth, and it lends its radical to nearly everything metallic or monetary in the script.

銭 (sen / zeni) is coined money — small change. It named Japan’s old subunit (100 sen to a yen), and survives in words like 銭湯, the public bath you once paid a coin for, and in the salty flavour of zeni, “cash”. 財 (zai) is wealth as holdings: 財産 (assets), 財布 (the wallet that holds them), 財閥 (the great zaibatsu conglomerates).

貨 (ka) is money as currency — 通貨 (currency), 硬貨 (coins) — and 富 (fu / tomi) is riches, abundance itself: 富士山’s first character, fittingly, is “wealth”.

Words using Money kanji

Everyday Japanese vocabulary built from the characters above.

  • 金利 きんり Listen interest rate; interest
  • 金銭 きんせん Listen money; cash
  • 財政 ざいせい Listen public finance; financial affairs; financial situation
  • 金融 きんゆう Listen finance; financing; credit transacting
  • 財源 ざいげん Listen source of funds; resources; finances
  • 献金 けんきん Listen donation; contribution; offering
  • 財界 ざいかい Listen financial world; business circles
  • 資金 しきん Listen funds; capital
  • 財団 ざいだん Listen foundation (institution); syndicate; group

Before you use Money kanji

金 alone reads as "gold/money" — bold but bald; a Japanese reader sees a price tag as easily as prosperity. If the meaning you want is abundance rather than cash, 富 (wealth, plenty) or 豊 (bountiful) read far more auspiciously. 銭 alone is small change — avoid unless you enjoy the irony.

Other meanings to explore

See all kanji by meaning →

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