兎 means “rabbit”

うさぎ · usagi

Also: hare

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

うさぎ

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

ト, ツ

Taught in secondary school · 7 strokes

The story

Japanese children see a rabbit pounding mochi on the moon, not a man's face. The moon rabbit (月の兎) is one of Japan's most beloved folk tales: selfless kindness rewarded with immortality.

Used in 兎に角 (tonikaku, anyway) and 脱兎 (datto, fleeing rabbit, meaning swift escape)

More from Animals & Creatures

• 象 elephant
• 竜 dragon
• 亀 turtle
• 猿 monkey
• 鯨 whale
• 狐 fox
• 蛙 frog
• 犬 dog
• 猫 cat
• 牛 cow
• 馬 horse
• 虫 insect

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

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