- 日本 — Japan
- 本当 — true, real
- 本人 — the person themselves
- 基本 — basic, foundation
- 本屋 — bookstore
- 本日 — today (formal expression)
“本” shows the root of a tree and has come to represent origins, truth, and core ideas. It’s also the standard counter for books, making it one of the most frequently used kanji in everyday life.
毎日、本を読みます。
I read books every day.
本当にありがとうございます。
Thank you very much.
This kanji is usually read as “hon”, like in "nihon" or "hontou". Sometimes it changes to a voiced sound, like "bon" in "sanbon" — due to Japanese pronunciation rules.