Kanji quizzes for the joy of reading

Kanji in booksPublished 2026-10-23

How do you read 朧 in Japanese?
When the moon’s outline softly blurs.

Make the words you meet in books your own, one quiz at a time. Discover Japanese kanji readings, meanings and usage with DuraRing.

QUESTION 19Difficulty ★★★

How do you read this in Japanese?

朧

Read 朧 in 月が朧に見える, describing a hazy moon.

HINTShow hint

A hazy, indistinct appearance, especially of the moon. The reading begins with o and has three hiragana.

More on radicals and this quiz’s stroke counts

Describe the shapes you see

You do not need to know the radical’s name. Try these searches for this quiz’s characters.

kanji with 月 beside 龍
月 and 龍 Japanese reading
20 stroke kanji for a hazy moon

These searches describe visual similarities, not formal radicals or character components.

朧 has 20 strokes and the radical 月 (moon). Radicals are dictionary classifications. The shape-based search phrases below provide other lookup clues.

朧20 strokes / radical: 月 (moon)

Stroke counts and radicals follow the Japanese dictionary Kanjipedia; other dictionaries may differ.

Kanjipedia「朧」

ANSWERShow answerHide answer

The answer is

おぼろ

oboro

朧

Understand the meaning

English translationHazy / indistinct

A blurred or indistinct appearance. It can give a landscape description a soft, hazy quality.

Watercolor of a hazy moon above a still lake. — **A moon softened by thin clouds.**AI-generated illustration

See it in a sentence

薄い雲の向こうで、月が朧に見えた。

The moon looked hazy behind thin clouds.

A way to remember

Here it is oboro. In 朦朧, the same character is read rō.

Sources：Kanjipedia: 朧

The explanation draws on the sources below. Examples were written for this page.

The answer and explanation stay hidden until you open them.

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Do you look up kanji like this?

Even without the reading, try radicals, stroke counts, shapes or handwriting.

By radical

shinnyo radical 11 stroke kanji

If you know the radical’s name, such as shinnyō, use a radical index or search. Narrow the list by the remaining strokes.

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11 stroke kanji list

If you do not know the radical, count all the strokes and use a stroke-count index. If nothing matches, check your count.

Describe what you see

kanji with two 火 stacked vertically

Try describing the parts, their number and position: ‘fire on the left, … on the right’. A component search such as ‘火火’ can also help.

Use IME Pad (handwriting)

Windows · Microsoft Japanese IME

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Open “IME Pad”, choose “Hand Writing” and draw the unfamiliar character.
Choose a matching character, insert it into a search field and look up its reading or meaning.

Microsoft guide: using IME Pad ↗

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夕暮れの部屋で、蝋燭の小さな明かりが揺れていた。机の上に本を開くと、昼間には気づかなかった一節が目に留まった。そのことばを、声に出さずゆっくりと読んだ。

窓の外では、雨が静かに降り始めていた。一ページずつ読み進めるたびに、物語の景色が少しずつ近づいてくる。私は読みかけの場所に指を置き、しばらく思いを巡らせた。

Scan a book page

ろうそく蝋燭

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How do you read this in Japanese?

Describe the shapes you see

Understand the meaning

See it in a sentence

A way to remember

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Do you look up kanji like this?

By radical

By total strokes

Describe what you see

Use IME Pad (handwriting)

Unsure of the radical or strokes? Scan it.

Read and learn with .

Capture and look up kanji

Save words. Connect them to books.