Mnemonic
The sun creeps across the temple courtyard where monks carved hour-lines into stone. As its golden beam slides from one groove to the next, the temple becomes a living sundial—the oldest way to read time. Sun up, sun down, the temple keeps counting.
Additional thoughts
Picture an ancient sundial built into a temple floor: the sun IS the clock hand, the temple IS the clock face. Together they literally produce time. This mirrors how 日 + 寺 = 時.Quick recall
The sun crossing a temple sundial marks the time.Details
The keyword for 時 is time. This kanji represents the concept of time in its broadest sense, encompassing moments, hours, periods, and occasions. It conveys both the measurable passage of hours and the more abstract notion of a particular point or era in time. It is one of the most frequently used kanji in Japanese, appearing in countless expressions related to temporal concepts.
- On'yomi
- じ
- Kun'yomi
- とき、-どき