Meaning
蓄 (on'yomi: チク) captures the deliberate, patient act of gathering and holding onto resources over time. Its meaning spans accumulation, storage, and building up reserves — financial savings, physical stockpiles, knowledge, emotional energy, or electrical charge. The character implies foresight. You don't 蓄 by accident. You plan, you hold back, you wait.
蓄 is built from two layers. The top element, 艹 (草かんむり, the grass radical), represents vegetation and crops. Beneath it sits 畜 (chiku), meaning domesticated livestock. Together they evoke a traditional farmhouse: crops harvested above, cattle tended below — both maintained as reserves against the lean winter months. That image of dual, deliberate storage is built into the kanji itself.
At 13 strokes, 蓄 belongs to the Jōyō kanji (常用漢字) list. Not part of the elementary curriculum, it appears at secondary level and beyond. At N1, it turns up regularly in financial journalism, government emergency preparedness documents, and electrical engineering texts. Open a newspaper article on household savings or a disaster preparedness manual — you'll almost certainly meet it.
Readings
On'yomi (音読み) — Chinese-derived readings
The on'yomi reading チク (CHIKU) appears almost exclusively in Sino-Japanese compounds (漢語, kango). It's the reading for formal, technical, and academic contexts — personal finance, battery engineering, medical terminology. The range is broad.
- 貯蓄 (chochiku) — savings, thrift; personal financial reserves
- 蓄積 (chikuseki) — accumulation, buildup; used for stress, debt, experience, or toxins
- 備蓄 (bichiku) — strategic stockpile, emergency reserves (government food, oil, or medical supplies)
- 蓄電 (chikuden) — electrical energy storage
- 蓄電池 (chikudenchi) — storage battery, rechargeable battery, accumulator
- 蓄財 (chikuzai) — amassing a fortune, accumulating personal wealth
- 含蓄 (ganchiku) — depth of meaning, implication, nuance; describes writing or speech rich in layered, unstated meaning
- 蓄膿症 (chikunōshō) — sinusitis (literally "disease of accumulated pus")
- 蓄音機 (chikuonki) — phonograph, gramophone ("sound-storing machine")
Kun'yomi (訓読み) — Native Japanese readings
The kun'yomi たくわ.える (takuwa.eru) is the native verb form. It covers material saving (money, food, supplies), physical growth (growing a beard), and quieter internal states — pent-up anger, patience building under pressure. More personal and concrete than the on'yomi compounds, it shows up in everyday speech and informal writing.
- 蓄える (takuwaeru) — to save up, to store, to lay in reserves, to grow (a beard)
- 蓄え (takuwae) — one's savings or reserves (noun form)
- 力を蓄える (chikara wo takuwaeru) — to build up one's strength, to gather energy
Common Words & Compounds
Key compounds, grouped by domain.
Finance & Economics
- 貯蓄 (chochiku) — personal savings; the most common compound in everyday life
- 蓄財 (chikuzai) — accumulating private wealth or assets
- 貯蓄率 (chochiku-ritsu) — savings rate; a key macroeconomic indicator
- 蓄え (takuwae) — one's personal reserves or nest egg (informal, noun)
Emergency Preparedness & Strategic Reserves
- 備蓄 (bichiku) — strategic stockpile; government or institutional emergency reserves of food, fuel, or medicine
- 備蓄品 (bichiku-hin) — stockpiled goods, items held in reserve
Science & Technology
- 蓄電 (chikuden) — electrical energy storage
- 蓄電池 (chikudenchi) — storage battery, rechargeable battery
- 蓄電器 (chikudenki) — capacitor, condenser (stores electrical charge)
- 蓄熱 (chikunetsu) — thermal storage, heat accumulation
Abstract & Literary Use
- 蓄積 (chikuseki) — accumulation of non-physical things: stress, knowledge, fatigue, experience
- 含蓄 (ganchiku) — depth, nuance, implication; language or art that carries meaning beneath its surface
Medical
- 蓄膿症 (chikunōshō) — sinusitis (literally "accumulated pus in the nasal cavities")
Example Sentences
老後のために貯蓄をしている。
Rōgo no tame ni chochiku wo shite iru.
I'm saving for retirement.
毎月の給料の一割を蓄えるようにしている。
Maitsuki no kyūryō no ichiwari wo takuwaeru yō ni shite iru.
I try to set aside ten percent of my monthly salary.
会社は三ヶ月分の食料を備蓄している。
Kaisha wa sankagetsubun no shokuryō wo bichiku shite iru.
The company has stockpiled three months' worth of food supplies.
長年の経験が彼の知識の蓄積につながった。
Naganen no keiken ga kare no chishiki no chikuseki ni tsunagatta.
Years of experience built into a deep store of knowledge.
このスマートフォンは蓄電池の容量が大きい。
Kono sumātofon wa chikudenchi no yōryō ga ōkii.
This smartphone has a large battery capacity.
彼女は感情を表に出さず、怒りを蓄えていた。
Kanojo wa kanjō wo omote ni dasazu, ikari wo takuwaete ita.
She never showed her feelings — anger had been quietly building up inside her.
日本の家計貯蓄率は近年低下傾向にある。
Nihon no kakei chochiku-ritsu wa kinnen teika-keikō ni aru.
Japan's household savings rate has been trending downward in recent years.
彼は定年後のために財産を蓄財してきた。
Kare wa teinen-go no tame ni zaisan wo chikuzai shite kita.
He's spent years quietly building up assets with retirement in mind.
太陽光発電の余剰電力を蓄電池に蓄える技術が進んでいる。
Taiyōkō hatsuden no yojō denryoku wo chikudenchi ni takuwaeru gijutsu ga susunde iru.
Techniques for storing surplus solar power in rechargeable batteries keep advancing.
彼の言葉には深い含蓄があり、すぐには意味が分からなかった。
Kare no kotoba ni wa fukai ganchiku ga ari, sugu ni wa imi ga wakaranakatta.
His words had a depth I couldn't immediately unpack.
Memory Tip
Picture a traditional Japanese farmhouse. The top half of 蓄 — the 艹 radical — shows golden rice stalks and crops gathered into the granary above. The bottom half, 畜, is the livestock: cows, pigs, and chickens kept warm in the barn below. The farmer tends both — crops above, animals below — building reserves to carry the family through winter. That patient, layered act of preparation is exactly what 蓄 means. Think of the farmer who never lets the storehouse run empty.