# 祭 — festival; worship

祭 means “festival; worship”. It is a JLPT N3 kanji written with 11 strokes. On'yomi: サイ (sai). Kun'yomi: まつり (matsuri), まつ(る) (matsuru). You'll see it in words such as 祭り (matsuri, “festival; feast”).

- Meaning: festival; worship
- On'yomi: サイ (sai)
- Kun'yomi: まつり (matsuri), まつ(る) (matsuru)
- Strokes: 11
- Level: JLPT N3 · set Belief & custom

## How to remember 祭

Parts: 月 moon; flesh · 示 indicate

## Words with 祭

| Word | Reading | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 祭り | まつり (matsuri) | festival; feast |
| 祭る | まつる (matsuru) | to deify; to enshrine |
| ひな祭り | ひなまつり (hinamatsuri) | Doll Festival; Girls' Day |

## Don't confuse it with

[際](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/occasion/) · [察](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/perceive/) · [奈](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/nara/) · [禁](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/forbid/)

## More in the “Belief & custom” set

[式](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/ceremony/) · [神](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/god/) · [福](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/good-fortune/) · [寺](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/temple/) · [賀](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/congratulate/) · [祭](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/festival/) · [礼](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/bow/)

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From Moji Ninja (https://moji.ninja/), a free app for learning hiragana, katakana and the JLPT kanji from N5 to N1 with spaced repetition. Page: https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/festival/. Last updated 2026-11-01.