税 means “tax”

ぜい · zei

Also: duty

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

ゼイ

Taught in grade 5 · 12 strokes

The story

Rice harvest (禾) taken by exchange (兌): grain surrendered to authority. Japan's 年貢 (nengu, annual tribute) system collected rice taxes for centuries. Today, 消費税 (shōhizei, consumption tax) is displayed on every price tag, a transparent reminder of the social contract between citizens and state.

Used in 消費税 (shouhizei, consumption tax), 税金 (zeikin, tax money), and 免税 (menzei, tax-free)

More from Commerce & Trade

• 安 cheap
• 高 expensive
• 払 pay
• 収 income
• 富 wealth
• 貯 save
• 借 borrow
• 貸 lend
• 貿 trade
• 買 buy
• 売 sell
• 店 shop

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

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