Lesson L10N4N4 Kanji in Context⏱ 20 min

Weather and Season Kanji

This lesson introduces key N4 kanji such as 天, 気, 晴, 雨, 雪, 雲, 風, 春, 夏, 秋, 冬, and others, with example vocabulary and sentences to build reading comprehension and usage in everyday contexts.

🎯 Goal: Learn N4 kanji related to weather and seasons in context.

Lesson Content

Learning Goal

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to read and write 6 key N4 kanji related to weather and seasons, and use them in simple sentences. You will also learn common vocabulary and expressions for talking about the weather in Japanese.

Concept

Weather and seasons are a big part of daily conversation in Japan. These kanji appear frequently in forecasts, casual talk, and even in set phrases like “How’s the weather?” (天気はどうですか？). Instead of memorizing them in isolation, we’ll learn them in context—through words and short sentences.

Step-by-Step Breakdown

We’ll cover 6 kanji: 天 (ten), 気 (ki), 晴 (hare), 雨 (ame), 雪 (yuki), and 冬 (fuyu).

1. 天 (ten) – heaven / sky / weather

On'yomi: てん (ten)
Kun'yomi: あめ (ame) – rare; mostly in compounds
Meaning: sky, heaven, weather
Stroke order: 4 strokes. Start with the top horizontal, then the two strokes inside, then the bottom horizontal.
Memory tip: Think of a person standing under a big sky (the top line is the horizon, the two strokes are arms reaching up).

Common words:

天気 (てんき, tenki) – weather
天国 (てんごく, tengoku) – heaven

2. 気 (ki) – spirit / energy / air / mood

On'yomi: き (ki), け (ke)
Kun'yomi: (none common)
Meaning: spirit, energy, air, mood
Stroke order: 6 strokes. The left radical is “rice” (米) simplified, then the right part is a bent line.
Memory tip: Imagine a person breathing in fresh air (the top part looks like a nose, the bottom like a body).

Common words:

天気 (てんき, tenki) – weather (literally “sky-spirit”)
気持ち (きもち, kimochi) – feeling

3. 晴 (hare) – clear up / fine weather

On'yomi: せい (sei)
Kun'yomi: は (re) – as in 晴れる (hareru, to clear up)
Meaning: clear up, fine (weather)
Stroke order: 12 strokes. Left radical is “sun” (日), right side is 青 (ao, blue).
Memory tip: The sun (日) + blue (青) = clear blue sky.

Common words:

晴れ (はれ, hare) – clear weather
晴天 (せいてん, seiten) – clear sky

4. 雨 (ame) – rain

On'yomi: う (u)
Kun'yomi: あめ (ame)
Meaning: rain
Stroke order: 8 strokes. The top horizontal is the cloud, the four dots are raindrops.
Memory tip: The top line is a cloud, and the dots are raindrops falling.

Common words:

雨 (あめ, ame) – rain
大雨 (おおあめ, ōame) – heavy rain

5. 雪 (yuki) – snow

On'yomi: せつ (setsu)
Kun'yomi: ゆき (yuki)
Meaning: snow
Stroke order: 11 strokes. Left radical is “rain” (雨), right side is 彐 (a hand).
Memory tip: Rain (雨) + a hand (彐) = snow that you can catch in your hand.

Common words:

雪 (ゆき, yuki) – snow
大雪 (おおゆき, ōyuki) – heavy snow

6. 冬 (fuyu) – winter

On'yomi: とう (tō)
Kun'yomi: ふゆ (fuyu)
Meaning: winter
Stroke order: 5 strokes. The top part is like a roof, the bottom is two strokes (like ice).
Memory tip: The top looks like a roof over a cold house, and the bottom is icicles.

Common words:

冬 (ふゆ, fuyu) – winter
冬休み (ふゆやすみ, fuyuyasumi) – winter vacation

Mini Examples

Here are sentences using the kanji you just learned:

今日の天気はいいです。
Kyō no tenki wa ii desu.
(Today’s weather is good.)
昨日は晴れでした。
Kinō wa hare deshita.
(Yesterday was clear.)
雨が降っています。
Ame ga futte imasu.
(It’s raining.)
冬に雪がよく降ります。
Fuyu ni yuki ga yoku furimasu.
(It often snows in winter.)

Common Mistake

Mistake: Confusing 天 (ten) and 気 (ki) when writing 天気 (tenki).

天 has a top horizontal line that goes all the way across.
気 has a bent line on the right side, not a straight one.

Mistake: Writing 晴 (hare) with the wrong radical. The left side is 日 (sun), not 月 (moon). The right side is 青 (blue), not 清 (clear).

Quick Practice

Fill in the blanks with the correct kanji from this lesson.

今日は___れです。 (clear weather)
→ 今日は晴れです。
___が降っています。 (rain)
→ 雨が降っています。
冬に___が降ります。 (snow)
→ 冬に雪が降ります。
明日の___気はどうですか？ (weather)
→ 明日の天気はどうですか？

Summary and Next Step

You’ve learned 6 essential N4 kanji for weather and seasons: 天 (sky/weather), 気 (spirit/energy), 晴 (clear), 雨 (rain), 雪 (snow), and 冬 (winter). You can now read and write simple weather sentences.

Next step: Practice writing these kanji in a notebook (focus on stroke order), then try reading a short Japanese weather forecast online. In the next lesson, we’ll add more season and temperature kanji (春, 夏, 秋, 温, 寒).