How do you say "sky" in Japanese?

空

sora

Noun Kanji

In Japanese, "sky" is 空 (sora).

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Pronunciation

空 is written using kanji. Romanised as sora, it sounds roughly like "soh-rah" to an English ear.

Writing and usage

Sora (空) is a fundamental kanji meaning sky or empty space. It is one of the first kanji children learn and appears in poetry and weather vocabulary.

Example sentence

この建物には大きな空があります。

Kono tatemono ni wa ookina Sora ga arimasu.

This building has a large sky.

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How to remember 空

The kanji 空 looks open and empty, like the sky. Sora is used in clear sky, blue sky, and many sky-related poetic phrases.

Related words

Browse all Japanese words in the glossary.

See more Japanese nouns.

Questions about 空

How do you pronounce 空?

空 is romanised as sora. Say it roughly like "soh-rah" in English. Each Japanese syllable has even weight, so keep the rhythm steady.

Is 空 formal or casual?

空 is a neutral, everyday word that works in both casual and polite speech. The level of formality comes from the sentence structure around it, not from the word itself.

How is 空 written in Japanese?

空 is written using kanji. Sora (空) is a fundamental kanji meaning sky or empty space.

Where can I practice Japanese words for free?

You can play free Japanese minigames in your browser on the Noun Town online games page, with no sign-up needed. Every word in the Japanese glossary also has native audio and an example sentence you can revisit any time.

"Sky" in other languages

Curated by Callan Ratcliffe

This word is part of the vocabulary taught in the Japanese language learning game Noun Town, where words are introduced through play rather than memorisation.

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