移 — Move, Transfer, Shift

Meaning

移 means to move, transfer, or shift — covering both physical relocation and abstract change. A person can 移る to a new city, a cold can 移る to another family member, and a conversation can 移る to a different topic. Immigration, organ transplants, office relocations, and shifting seasons all draw on this one kanji.

移 combines the radical 禾 (grain, cereal plant) on the left with 多 (many, much) on the right. One reading of this pairing: grain scattering outward in great numbers — seeds dispersing, proliferating, shifting across the land. That image of spreading grain gives the character its core sense of movement and transition.

Written in 11 strokes, 移 is a grade 5 elementary school kanji. At N3, it appears regularly in newspapers, business writing, and daily speech. The vocabulary it anchors — travel, migration, transplants, system transitions — comes up often enough to be worth knowing well.

Readings

On'yomi (音読み) — Chinese-derived readings

移 has one on'yomi: イ (i). It appears almost exclusively in kanji compounds (熟語, jukugo) and rarely stands alone. Whenever 移 pairs with another kanji, イ is the reading you need.

• 移動いどう (idō) — movement, travel, transfer of location. One of the most common words using 移, appearing in contexts from commuting to data transfer.
• 移住いじゅう (ijū) — emigration or immigration; settling in a new place. Used when people permanently relocate to another region or country.
• 移植いしょく (ishoku) — transplant (medical) or transplanting (of plants). Widely used in medical contexts such as organ transplants.
• 移転いてん (iten) — relocation, transfer of an address or office. Common in business announcements when a company changes its headquarters.
• 移行いこう (ikō) — transition, migration (e.g., migrating to a new system). Frequently used in technology and policy contexts.

Kun'yomi (訓読み) — Native Japanese readings

The kun'yomi are うつ・る (utsuru) and うつ・す (utsusu) — a classic intransitive/transitive pair. うつる: the subject moves on its own. うつす: you're moving something else.

• 移うつる (utsuru) — to move (by itself), to shift, to be transferred. Example: 病気びょうきが移うつる (byōki ga utsuru) — a disease spreads/is transmitted.
• 移うつす (utsusu) — to move (something), to transfer, to copy. Example: 視線しせんを移うつす (shisen wo utsusu) — to shift one's gaze.
• 移うつり変かわり (utsurikawari) — transition, change over time. A compound noun expressing how things gradually shift and transform.

Common Words & Compounds

移 anchors a wide range of compounds. Here are the most useful ones, grouped by theme:

Movement & Travel

• 移動いどう (idō) — movement, transfer, commute
• 移動いどう手段しゅだん (idō shudan) — means of transportation
• 移送いそう (isō) — transportation, conveyance (of a person or goods under authority)

Migration & Relocation

• 移住いじゅう (ijū) — immigration, emigration
• 移民いみん (imin) — immigrant, migrant
• 移転いてん (iten) — relocation (of office, residence)
• 移籍いせき (iseki) — transfer of registration; player transfer in sports

Science & Medicine

• 移植いしょく (ishoku) — transplant (organ, tissue, or plant)
• 転移てんい (ten'i) — metastasis (cancer spreading); also general shift or transition

Technology & Systems

• 移行いこう (ikō) — migration, transition (e.g., system upgrade)
• 推移すいい (suii) — transition, progress, trend over time

Everyday Verbs

• 移うつる (utsuru) — to move, to be transferred, to spread (intransitive)
• 移うつす (utsusu) — to move, to transfer, to shift (transitive)
• 移うつり変かわり (utsurikawari) — change, transition over time

Example Sentences

Memory Tip

Picture a farmer releasing a fistful of grain (禾) — seeds scattering outward in great numbers (多), each one traveling from hand to field. That spreading motion is the heart of 移: something leaving its original place and arriving somewhere new. People 移住 to new countries. Offices 移転 to new addresses. A cold 移る from one person to the next. The grain is always moving.