浅 means “shallow”

あさい · asai

Also: superficial, frivolous, wretched

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

あさい

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

セン

Taught in grade 4 · 9 strokes

The story

Water (氵) that barely covers a pair of spears (戔): you can see right through to the bottom. 浅草 (Asakusa), Tokyo's most historic entertainment district, literally means "shallow grass," named for the low marshland where Sensō-ji temple was built. 浅い (asai) also means superficial: 浅い知識 (asai chishiki) is shallow knowledge.

Used in 浅草 (Asakusa, famous Tokyo district), 浅い (asai, shallow), and 浅学 (sengaku, shallow learning)

Example sentences

• ここは浅いから安全です。 It is shallow here, so it is safe.
• 浅草に行きたいです。 I want to go to Asakusa.

More from Measurement & Size

• 厚 thick
• 薄 thin
• 低 low
• 遅 slow
• 量 quantity
• 測 measure
• 少 few
• 倍 double
• 満 full
• 大 big
• 小 small
• 短 short

Learn 浅 and more kanji free on Fuji Learning · All kanji

Readings from KANJIDIC2, © EDRDG, CC BY-SA.