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The meaning of aki (秋, 空き) in Japanese and how to use it

This article will give you all of the knowledge you need on the Japanese word aki, including its Japanese definition and translation, example sentences, related expressions and more!

What does aki mean?

The Japanese noun aki means the autumn/fall season (written as 秋) or alternatively space/empty seat (空き).

Japanese is a sound-poor language, so it is common for the same sound to have several different meanings. Usually, you can tell the different meanings apart from their kanji characters (like above) or simply from the context.

Aki meaning 1: Autumn

The most common meaning of aki is the autumn/fall season.

Below, we take a look at some examples of how to use aki in Japanese.

To make it easier for you, I have written each sentence in full Japanese kanji on the first line, followed by roman letters (romaji), and hiragana, with the English meaning coming last.

彼女は秋に海外に行きます。
Kanojo wa aki ni kaigai ni ikimasu.
かのじょはあきにかいがいにいきます。
She will go overseas in the fall.

春と比べて、日本の秋は暖かい。
Haru to kurabete, nihon no aki wa atatakai.
はるとくらべて、にほんのあきはあたたかい。
Compared to the spring, Japan’s autumn is warm.

いよいよ秋が来た。
Iyo iyo aki ga kita.
いよいよあきがきた。
Autumn is finally here.

秋は美味しい料理が多い時期です。
Aki wa oishii ryouri ga ooi jiki desu.
あきはおいしいりょうりがおおいじきです。
Autumn is a time that has lots of nice foods.

日本の四季の中では、秋は一番過ごしやすい。
Nihon no shiki no naka de ha, aki wa ichiban sugoshiyasui.
にほんのしきのなかでは、あきはいちばんすごしやすい。
Of Japan’s four seasons, the fall is the most pleasant.

Aki meaning 2: Empty seat

When written as 空き, aki stands for space or an empty seat (also see the verb aku).

あのカフェは人気で中々空きがない。
Ano kafue wa ninki de nakanaka aki ga nai.
あのかふぇがにんきでなかなかあきがない。
That café is so popular there are rarely any empty seats.

来週ならまだ空き部屋がある。
Raishuu nara mada aki beya ga aru.
らいしゅうならまだあきべやがある。
There are still some available rooms next week.
(note that the aki in front of heya turns the sound into beya)

Rohan
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Published by Rohan

Rohan is a professional Japanese translator and the author behind Tanukiki.com, a blog that offers Japanese language tips and insights on life in Japan. Rohan's favorite resource for learning Japanese is JapanesePod101, one of the best tools for getting started with the language. Sign up for a free lifetime account here.