SumiOne tree, two trees, three trees: 木, 林 and 森
Some kanji are simple sums. 木 (ki) is a tree. Put two side by side and you get 林 (hayashi), a grove or a small wood. Stack a third on top and you get 森 (mori), a forest. All three are taught in the first year of Japanese primary school, and the picture inside each one is easy to see.
What the kanji say
木 (ki, moku) began as a drawing of a tree, and you can still read it: the long vertical stroke is the trunk, the line across it the branches, and the two strokes slanting down at the bottom the roots. The Shuowen Jiezi, a Chinese dictionary from around 100 CE, also describes the lower part as the roots. 木 means a tree, and also wood: 木曜日 (mokuyoubi), Thursday, is “wood day”.
林 (hayashi, rin) is two trees side by side: a grove or a wood. The Shuowen describes it as trees growing together on level ground.
森 (mori, shin) is three trees, one on top of two. The Shuowen’s definition is simply “the look of many trees”.
Where it really comes from
Here the picture is the history: 林 and 森 really were made by repeating 木.
The words have moved a little since. In Chinese, 森 is mostly used to describe things, as “dense with trees” or “dark and gloomy”, and a forest is a 森林. Japanese gave 森 a word of its own: mori, a forest. It can also be the grove around a Shinto shrine, the 鎮守の森 (chinju no mori).
In Japanese, the line between 林 and 森 is loose, and a 森 isn’t simply a bigger 林. A 森 is woodland that grows thick and rises like a mound, while 林 is the more botanical word, used in terms like 雑木林 (zoukibayashi), a wood of mixed trees, and 原生林 (genseirin), virgin forest. The native words may carry a hint, though neither origin is certain. Mori is probably related to 盛り (mori), from 盛る (moru), to heap up, since a forest looks like a mound from far away, and hayashi is often said to come from 生やす (hayasu), to grow.
木 also turns up inside other kanji. 本 (hon), book, began as a tree with a line drawn across its base to mark the roots: it first meant root or origin. 休 (yasumu), to rest, is a person (亻) leaning against a tree.
How to use it
公園に大きな木があります。
Kouen ni ookina ki ga arimasu.
There's a big tree in the park.
森の中を散歩しました。
Mori no naka o sanpo shimashita.
I went for a walk in the forest.
家の裏に林があります。
Ie no ura ni hayashi ga arimasu.
There's a small wood behind the house.
週末は森林浴に行きたい。
Shuumatsu wa shinrin'yoku ni ikitai.
I want to go forest bathing this weekend.
- 木 changes its reading. It’s き (ki) on its own, もく (moku) or ぼく (boku) in compounds like 木曜日 and 大木 (taiboku), a big tree, and こ (ko) in a few words like 木陰 (kokage), the shade of a tree.
- 森林浴 (shinrin’yoku), forest bathing, is a slow, quiet walk among trees for your health.
- They’re family names too. 林 (Hayashi), 森 (Mori) and 小林 (Kobayashi), “small wood”, are all common Japanese surnames.
Words with the same kanji
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 木曜日 | mokuyoubi | Thursday |
| 並木 | namiki | a row of trees along a street |
| 雑木林 | zoukibayashi | a wood of mixed trees |
| 林業 | ringyou | forestry |
| 森林 | shinrin | forest, woodland |
| 森林浴 | shinrin’yoku | forest bathing |
Remember it
One tree stands on its own. Plant a second beside it and you have a grove. Stack a third on top, and you’re lost in the forest.
The kanji in this lesson
Tap Draw it to watch the stroke order. Numbers show where each stroke starts.