103
歳
Years Old, Age
JLPT N3
Interesting Fact
In Japan, birthdays are celebrated much like in the West today, but historically everyone became one year older together on New Year's Day. The kanji 歳 has been connected with counting age for centuries.
Memory Trick
Think of this as the 'upgraded' version of 才. It has extra parts because getting older means gaining more years and more experiences.
Readings
Onyomi: サイ (sai)
Kunyomi:
Example Words
年齢
ねんれい (nenrei)
Age
一歳
いっさい (issai)
One year old
二十歳
はたち (hatachi)
Twenty years old
歳月
さいげつ (saigetsu)
Passing years
Example Sentence
父は 五十歳 です。
ちちは ごじゅっさい です。
chichi wa gojussai desu
My father is fifty years old.