世

World, Generation

よ (yo)

JLPT N4

Interesting Fact

👴When Japanese people say 世界 (sekai), they usually mean the entire world. But 世 by itself often refers to human society, an era, or a generation rather than Earth itself. That's why expressions like 世の中 (yononaka) mean "society" or "the world we live in," focusing on people and their time rather than geography.

Memory Trick

Imagine every horizontal line is a different chapter of history. Ancient Japan sits on the top line, samurai Japan on the middle, and modern Japan on the bottom. Stack enough generations together, and you create the world as we know it. Every line is another 世.