Meaning
The kanji 昼 means daytime, noon, or midday. It covers the sunlit portion of the day — roughly from morning until evening — but in practice leans toward the noon hour. When a Japanese speaker says ひる, they almost always mean lunchtime, not the entire span of daylight.
Structurally, 昼 has two parts. The upper portion derives from an older radical suggesting height or a covering; the lower portion is the radical 日, meaning sun. Put them together and you get the sun pinned directly overhead — high noon. Once you see that image, the shape is hard to forget.
昼 is a Grade 2 elementary school kanji, learned around age seven or eight. Nine strokes, 日 radical, JLPT N4. It comes up constantly in daily conversation around meals, breaks, and schedules.
Readings
On'yomi (音読み) — Chinese-derived readings
チュウ (chū) is the on'yomi, derived from classical Chinese. It appears mainly in formal two-kanji compounds — the kind you see on menus, workplace documents, and in literary writing.
- 昼食 (chūshoku) — lunch, midday meal (formal; used in schools, workplaces, and on menus)
- 昼間 (chūkan) — daytime (formal/written; contrasts with 夜間 yakan — nighttime)
- 昼夜 (chūya) — day and night (used in expressions like 昼夜を問わず — day and night without rest)
- 白昼 (hakuchū) — broad daylight (dramatic or literary; e.g., 白昼夢 — daydream)
Kun'yomi (訓読み) — Native Japanese readings
ひる (hiru) is the reading you hear every day. It is casual and direct — used when the kanji stands alone or in native Japanese compounds. Say ひる to a Japanese person and they will picture lunch, not an abstract concept of daytime.
- 昼 (hiru) — noon, lunchtime (used alone: 「もうひるだ！」 — It's already noon!)
- お昼 (ohiru) — noon, lunch (polite form with お; the most common way to say it)
- 昼休み (hiruyasumi) — lunch break
- 昼寝 (hirune) — afternoon nap
- 昼ご飯 (hirugohan) — lunch (casual, spoken)
- 真昼 (mahiru) — high noon (真 intensifies: exactly noon, no ambiguity)
Common Words & Compounds
昼 turns up in a surprising number of daily-use words. Here are the most useful, grouped by theme.
Meal-related:
- 昼食 (chūshoku) — lunch (formal; menus and written contexts)
- 昼ご飯 (hirugohan) — lunch (casual, spoken)
- 昼飯 (hirumeshi) — lunch (blunt, masculine slang)
- お昼 (ohiru) — lunch, noon (friendly everyday speech)
Time and schedule-related:
- 昼間 (hiruma) — daytime (spoken form)
- 昼間 (chūkan) — daytime (written/formal form)
- 昼休み (hiruyasumi) — lunch break
- 昼前 (hirumae) — late morning, before noon
- 昼過ぎ (hirusugi) — early afternoon, just past noon
- 昼夜 (chūya) — day and night
Activity and atmosphere-related:
- 昼寝 (hirune) — afternoon nap, siesta
- 真昼 (mahiru) — high noon
- 白昼 (hakuchū) — broad daylight
- 白昼夢 (hakuchūmu) — daydream (literally: broad-daylight dream)
Example Sentences
昼ご飯は何を食べますか？
Hirugohan wa nani wo tabemasu ka?
What will you eat for lunch?
もうすぐ昼ですね。
Mō sugu hiru desu ne.
It will be noon soon, won't it.
昼休みは12時から1時までです。
Hiruyasumi wa jūni-ji kara ichi-ji made desu.
The lunch break is from 12:00 to 1:00.
今日の昼食はラーメンにしました。
Kyō no chūshoku wa rāmen ni shimashita.
I decided on ramen for today's lunch.
昼間は外がとても暑いです。
Hiruma wa soto ga totemo atsui desu.
It is very hot outside during the daytime.
父は昼寝をするのが好きです。
Chichi wa hirune wo suru no ga suki desu.
My father likes to take afternoon naps.
真昼の太陽は目に痛いほど明るい。
Mahiru no taiyō wa me ni itai hodo akarui.
The midday sun is so bright it hurts your eyes.
その事件は白昼に起きた。
Sono jiken wa hakuchū ni okita.
That incident happened in broad daylight.
昼夜を問わず働いています。
Chūya wo towazu hataraite imasu.
I am working day and night without rest.
Related Kanji
- 夜 — Night, Evening (Kanji N4)
- 明 — Bright, Clear, Light (Kanji N4)
- 家 — House, Home, Family (Kanji N4)
- 朝 — Morning, Dynasty (Kanji N4)
- 曜 — Day of the Week (Kanji N4)
- 顔 — Face, Look, Reputation (Kanji N4)
Memory Tip
Picture the sun (日) sitting at the base of 昼, pressed under a heavy canopy above it. At noon the sun is exactly there — straight overhead, bearing down. The kanji freezes that moment: the sun at its peak, nowhere higher to go. Feel the midday heat and think 昼 (ひる).