How to read 明: 11 readings with examples

The Jōyō Kanji table lists 11 readings for 明. Which one you use depends on the word it sits in, so learn the words below and the reading comes with them.

On'yomi

メイmeiミョウmyou

Kun'yomi

あか(り)akariあか(るい)akaruiあか(るむ)akarumuあか(らむ)akaramuあき(らか)akirakaあ(ける)akeruあ(く)akuあ(くる)akuruあ(かす)akasu

Word	Reading	Type	Meaning
説明	せつめいsetsumei	On	explanation
光明	こうみょうkoumyou	On	light, hope
明かり	あかりakari	Kun	a light, lamp
明るい	あかるいakarui	Kun	bright
明らか	あきらかakiraka	Kun	clear, obvious
夜明け	よあけyoake	Kun	dawn
明くる日	あくるひakuruhi	Kun	the next day
明かす	あかすakasu	Kun	to reveal
明日	あしたashita	Special	tomorrow (everyday speech)

Special readings (jukujikun) are read as a whole word, so you can't split them by character.

How to tell which reading of 明 to use

メイ covers most compounds (説明, 明確). ミョウ is rarer (光明, 明晩).
Words with hiragana after the kanji use kun'yomi: 明るい, 明らか, 明ける.
明日 is special: あした in everyday speech, あす when a little formal, みょうにち when very formal.

Seen in JapanTokyo: 明治神宮 (Meiji Jingu), the Meiji Shrine.

Quiz

Can you read these sentences?

Why does one kanji have so many readings?

Kanji came to Japan from China over several centuries. Each wave brought the Chinese pronunciation of its time and place, and Japanese kept the older sounds alongside the newer ones. Those borrowed sounds are the on'yomi. For example, 生 is セイ in 先生 but ショウ in 一生. Japanese also attached its own native words to the characters, and those are the kun'yomi.

Sounds also shift when words join: ひ becomes び in 日曜日, ひと becomes びと in 人々, and ふん becomes ぷん in 三分. That is why the readings listed in a dictionary don't always match what you hear.