Details
Stroke Order
Cultural Context
Etymology
Composed of grain and fire. Harvest time drying grain with fire.
Symbolism
Autumn, harvest, maturity. Represents fruition and beginning of end.
Related Culture & Scenes
- — Autumn leaves
Seasonal
Season from September to November. Symbolizes harvest, melancholy, maturity. Time of autumn leaves, moon viewing, harvest. In haiku, expresses loneliness.
Component Breakdown
grain + fire
Words & Expressions
Words written with 秋
Four-Character Compounds
春夏秋冬
しゅんかしゅうとう
spring, summer, autumn (fall) and winter; the four seasons
一日千秋
いちじつせんしゅう
(waiting) impatiently; (spending) many a weary day; each moment seeming like an eternity
秋霜烈日
しゅうそうれつじつ
harshness; severity
一日三秋
いちじつさんしゅう
(waiting) impatiently; (spending) many a weary day; each moment seeming like an eternity
暗送秋波
あんそうしゅうは
giving an amorous sidelong look; casting an amorous glance (at); playing up to someone behind the scenes
秋風落莫
しゅうふうらくばく
forlorn and helpless; lonely and desolate
媚眼秋波
びがんしゅうは
casting a coquettish glance (at a man)
春花秋月
しゅんかしゅうげつ
spring flowers and the autumn moon; beauty of nature as it changes from season to season
千秋万歳
せんしゅうばんぜい
may you live a thousand years
Proverbs & Idioms
秋茄子は嫁に食わすな
あきなすはよめにくわすな
Don't let the bride eat autumn eggplant
Petty jealousy over good things
Poetry
秋の田の かりほの庵の 苫をあらみ わが衣手は 露にぬれつつ
In the autumn fields the thatch of my makeshift hut is coarsely woven, and my sleeves keep growing wet with dew.
奥山に もみぢ踏み分け 鳴く鹿の 声聞く時ぞ 秋は悲しき
Deep in the hills a stag treads through fallen maple leaves and cries. Hearing it, autumn is saddest of all.
吹くからに 秋の草木の しをるれば むべ山風を 嵐といふらむ
No sooner does it blow than the autumn grasses wither — no wonder they write the mountain wind as 'storm'.
月みれば 千々に物こそ 悲しけれ 我が身ひとつの 秋にはあらねど
Looking at the moon, a thousand sorrows crowd in, though the autumn is not mine alone.
白露に 風の吹きしく 秋の野は つらぬきとめぬ 玉ぞ散りける
Across the autumn field, where the wind keeps blowing on the white dew, unstrung jewels are scattering.
八重むぐら しげれる宿の さびしきに 人こそ見えね 秋は来にけり
To this lonely house, overgrown with layered weeds, no one comes. Yet autumn has come.
さびしさに 宿をたち出でて ながむれば いづこも同じ 秋の夕暮れ
Loneliness drove me out of the house to look around, and everywhere it was the same: an autumn evening.
夕されば 門田の稲葉 おとづれて 葦のまろやに 秋風ぞ吹く
As evening comes it rustles the rice leaves by the gate — the autumn wind, blowing on my reed-thatched hut.
契りおきし させもが露を いのちにて あはれ今年の 秋もいぬめり
I lived on the promise you made, like dew on a moxa leaf — and now this autumn too is passing.
秋風に たなびく雲の たえ間より もれ出づる月の かげのさやけさ
Through a break in the clouds trailing on the autumn wind, the moonlight spills out, clear and cold.
村雨の 露もまだひぬ まきの葉に 霧立ちのぼる 秋の夕暮れ
The dew of the passing shower has not yet dried on the cedar leaves, and already mist is rising. An autumn evening.
み吉野の 山の秋風 さ夜ふけて ふるさと寒く 衣うつなり
Autumn wind off the mountains of Yoshino; the night deepens, the old village is cold, and someone is beating cloth.
Anime & Manga
春夏秋冬代行者 春の舞
Agents of the Four Seasons: Dance of Spring
A well-known work with 秋 in its Japanese title.
Related Figures & Stories
秋瑾
Name contains 秋
Qiu Jin was a Chinese revolutionary, feminist, and writer.
Wikipedia上田秋成
Name contains 秋
Ueda Akinari or Ueda Shūsei a.kʲiꜜ.na.ɾʲi], July 25, 1734 in Osaka – August 8, 1809 in Kyoto) was a Japanese author, scholar and waka poet, and a…
Wikipedia幸徳秋水
Name contains 秋
Kōtoku Denjirō , better known by the pen name Kōtoku Shūsui , was a Japanese socialist and anarchist who played a leading role in introducing…
Wikipedia小早川秀秋
Name contains 秋
Kobayakawa Hideaki was the fifth son of Kinoshita Iesada and a nephew of Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
WikipediaFrequently Asked Questions
What does 秋 mean in Japanese?
秋 means autumn.
How do you read 秋?
On'yomi: シュウ (SHUU). Kun'yomi: あき、とき (aki, toki).
How many strokes does 秋 have?
秋 has 9 strokes. Its radical is 禾 (grain).
Is 秋 a good kanji for a tattoo?
秋 is one of the kanji most often chosen for tattoos. It means autumn. Read the full meaning and cultural background on this page first — some popular choices are deliberately dark.
Explore by meaning:autumn