Meaning
貿 means trade, commerce, and the exchange of goods. You'll encounter it most often in 貿易 — the standard word for international trade in news, business writing, and everyday conversation about economics.
貿 splits into two parts. On top sits 卯 (う), the fourth sign of the Chinese zodiac (the rabbit). Here it works purely as a phonetic hint, pointing to the ボウ reading — not as a meaning clue. On the bottom is 貝 (かい), the radical for shell or money. Ancient East Asian traders used cowrie shells as currency, so 貝 shows up repeatedly in kanji about wealth, value, and commerce.
Put a value marker (貝) under a sound-guide (卯), and you get a character about moving something valuable between hands — which is exactly what trade is.
貿 takes 12 strokes and is taught in Japanese 5th grade. On JLPT N3, it ranks as an important kanji for intermediate learners. It has one on'yomi and no kun'yomi, so you'll only ever see it inside compound words.
Readings
On'yomi (音読み) — Chinese-derived readings
One reading: ボウ. It always appears in compounds, never alone.
- 貿易 (bōeki) — trade, commerce
- 貿易風 (bōekifū) — trade wind (the steady winds that sailing merchants depended on)
- 自由貿易 (jiyū bōeki) — free trade
The ボウ reading traces back to the Chinese pronunciation (mào). In Vietnamese, the same root gives us mậu, as in mậu dịch (trade). That shared ancestry makes the connection easy to remember across all three languages.
Because 貿 has no kun'yomi, it stays firmly in formal and academic territory. You won't see it in casual speech or inflected verb forms — only in compound nouns, typically Sino-Japanese.
Kun'yomi (訓読み) — Native Japanese readings
貿 has no kun'yomi. The concept of structured international trade arrived in Japan alongside the Chinese vocabulary for it, so no native Japanese word was ever assigned to this character. You'll never see 貿 written in inflected hiragana forms. It only works inside compounds.
Common Words & Compounds
Almost every word using 貿 builds on 貿易. Here are the key compounds grouped by theme.
Core compound:
- 貿易 (bōeki) — trade, commerce, import-export activity
Trade balance & economics:
- 貿易赤字 (bōeki akaji) — trade deficit (literally "trade red figures")
- 貿易黒字 (bōeki kuroji) — trade surplus (literally "trade black figures")
- 貿易収支 (bōeki shūshi) — trade balance
- 貿易摩擦 (bōeki masatsu) — trade friction, trade dispute
Trade policy & types:
- 自由貿易 (jiyū bōeki) — free trade
- 対外貿易 (taigai bōeki) — foreign trade
- 国際貿易 (kokusai bōeki) — international trade
- 貿易協定 (bōeki kyōtei) — trade agreement
Trade participants & infrastructure:
- 貿易会社 (bōeki gaisha) — trading company
- 貿易港 (bōekikō) — trading port
- 貿易風 (bōekifū) — trade wind
貿易 appears daily in Japanese news headlines and business reports. If you read NHK Web Easy or Nikkei, you'll run into it constantly — so locking it in at N3 pays off fast.
Example Sentences
日本は貿易が盛んな国です。
Nihon wa bōeki ga sakan na kuni desu.
Japan is a country where trade is thriving.
彼は貿易会社で働いています。
Kare wa bōeki gaisha de hataraite imasu.
He works at a trading company.
この国の貿易赤字は深刻な問題です。
Kono kuni no bōeki akaji wa shinkoku na mondai desu.
This country's trade deficit is a serious problem.
自由貿易は経済の発展に役立ちます。
Jiyū bōeki wa keizai no hatten ni yakudachimasu.
Free trade supports economic growth.
両国は新しい貿易協定を結びました。
Ryōkoku wa atarashii bōeki kyōtei wo musubimashita.
The two countries signed a new trade agreement.
日本の貿易黒字は長年続いています。
Nihon no bōeki kuroji wa naganen tsuzuite imasu.
Japan has been running a trade surplus for many years.
貿易摩擦が両国の関係に影響を与えました。
Bōeki masatsu ga ryōkoku no kankei ni eikyō wo ataemashita.
The trade dispute strained relations between the two countries.
国際貿易のルールは複雑です。
Kokusai bōeki no rūru wa fukuzatsu desu.
The rules of international trade are complicated.
この港は昔から重要な貿易港でした。
Kono minato wa mukashi kara jūyō na bōekikō deshita.
This port has been a major trading hub since ancient times.
Memory Tip
Break 貿 into its two halves. The bottom is 貝 — shells, ancient coins, money. The top looks like something sliding or being pushed across a surface.
Picture a merchant pushing a pile of shells across a counter to pay for goods. The shells change hands. That exchange is 貿易.
Vietnamese speakers have a shortcut: mậu dịch (貿易) uses the exact same Chinese root. The MẬU reading in Hán-Việt and the ボウ reading in Japanese both descend from the same Old Chinese source. Know one, and the other clicks into place.