青

Blue

あお (ao), あおい (aoi)

JLPT N4

Interesting Fact

🚦 If you ask a Japanese child the color of a traffic light, they may answer "blue" even when it looks green. Traditionally, 青 covered both blue and green shades, and the phrase "blue traffic light" (ao shingō) is still used today. Some traffic lights in Japan are even made slightly bluer to match the expression.

Memory Trick

🌱 The top of 青 looks like a young plant, while the bottom looks like the moon. Imagine a fresh green sprout growing under a blue moonlit sky. Green below, blue above—together they create 青.