JLPT N5 Kanji – 水 – mizu, sui

This is 5-Minute Kanji, and today, we’re going with a seriously refreshing kanji: the kanji for water.

Mnemonic:
You exclaim “ME ZOom” as you splash into the pool of water in your favorite polka dot swimSUIt.

Onyomi:

スイ
sui

Kunyomi:

みず
mizu

Water is life, and so is 水. This is one of the first kanji you’ll ever meet, and you actually can picture it without much effort. It somewhat resembles water splashing or flowing down, featuring a central drop with side splashes. Fitting, right? Water is most often pronounced with the kunyomi, 水みず.

The onyomi, スイ (sui), pops up more in compounds or words related to water in some way. Think of 水曜日 (すいようび, Wednesday) or 水族館 (すいぞくかん, aquarium). It can also appear in chemistry or science contexts.

When you work on mnemonics, focus on みず and スイ — these are your main actors.

Mnemonic Factory

We’re dealing with another easily recognizable kanji: 水 looks like water streams gushing from a splashy source. See that central line? The sides just need some sound effects — “splash!” — and you’re at the pool.

Let’s brainstorm similar-sounding English words.

For スイ, we have:

• SWeet
• SWeeze (as in squeeze — like squeezing water)
• chop SUEY (Okay, it’s Chinese, but still useful)

For みず (mizu):

• MISO soup (it’s made with water!)
• “ME ZOom” (caveman English for joining a Zoom call or announcing you are about to go really fast.)
• “ME, Zookeeper!” (caveman English for announcing your career change to zookeeping.)

Putting it together:
Imagine you’re in your favorite polka dot swimSUIt and you announce “ME ZOom! just before you cannonball into the pool, and you make the 水 kanji shape with your body: arms and legs out, water splashing everywhere! Or, if you want, picture yourself slurping SWeet MISO soup, wishing you were sitting next to the water on the beach.

Example Words

Kunyomi (みず):
Let’s take a look at some common basics:

• 水（みず） “water”
• 水着（みずぎ） “swimsuit”*

*Not an N5 word

Onyomi (スイ):
Some classic compounds:

• 水曜日（すいようび） “Wednesday”
• 水族館（すいぞくかん） “aquarium”*
• 水道（すいどう） “water supply, tap water”*
• 香水（こうすい） “perfume”*

*Not an N5 word

Commonly Confused With

• 氷 — ice (because water turns into it!)
• 永 — eternal (the central strokes look similar)
• 泉 — spring, fountain (looks like water plus “spring”)

Story Review

Can you recall the story? Fill in the blanks and shout it out:

You exclaim “__ __om” as you splash into the pool of _____ in your favorite polka dot swim___t.

Let’s try again:

You exclaim “__ __om” as you splash into the pool of _____ in your favorite polka dot swim___t.

Word Review

Ready for a lightning quiz? Yell out the reading for each one:

水
水着*
水曜日
水道*
香水*

*Not an N5 word

That’s the kanji for water! If you have any questions, leave a comment. If you want tips like this delivered with a splash, subscribe and hit the bell icon for notifications on new videos. See you next time, kanji crew!