What does “yoake” mean in Japanese?
Native speakers say “yoake” to mean ‘dawn’ in Japanese. Perhaps, some Japanese learners know this word as it is sometimes used in Japanese movies, songs, novels, manga, anime, and the like. In this blog post, however, I will explain this word in detail based on its kanji expression. And also, I will explain how to use it through example sentences. My explanations would help Japanese learners understand “yoake” more clearly. Then, let’s get started!
Contents
Definition and meanings of “yoake”
Let me start with the definition and meanings of “yoake”.
- yoake – 夜明け (よあけ) : a noun meaning ‘dawn’ in Japanese. This can also mean ‘daybreak’.
Native speakers use this noun to refer to the end of a night, the beginning of a day, or the moment the sun rises. In addition, they sometimes use this as a metaphor for the beginning of something, for example, a new era. So, the usages are very similar to those of the English noun, “dawn”, I think.
The definition and meanings are simple and clear. To understand this noun more clearly, however, let me explain its kanji characters in detail, one by one.
Yoake in kanji
The kanji expression of “yoake” contains the following two kanji characters:
- 夜 : a kanji character widely used to mean ‘night’ in Japanese.
- 明 : a kanji character widely used to mean ‘bright’ or ‘light’ in Japanese. This can also mean ‘to begin’ or ‘to end’ depending on the word used together. This kanji can also be found in other words like “ashita“.
These two kanji characters tell us that “yoake” literally means ‘the end of night’ in Japanese. This literal interpretation is very close to the actual meanings.

When we meet new kanji expressions, we should check their kanji characters in detail to understand their meanings clearly and deeply. In many cases, kanji characters tell us a lot about the meanings of the expressions they form. Actually, here, we could get the better understanding of “yoake” through the detailed kanji check above.
So far, I’ve explained the definition and meanings of “yoake” together with its kanji characters. Then, let me explain how to use it through the example sentences below.
Example #1: how to say “dawn” in Japanese
kyou boku wa yoake mae ni oki ta – 今日僕は夜明け前に起きた (きょうぼくはよあけまえにおきた)
Today, I woke up before the dawn.
Below are the new words used in the example sentence.
- kyou – 今日 (きょう) : a noun meaning ‘today’ in Japanese. This can also work as an adverb almost anywhere in a sentence. In the example, this works as an adverb at the beginning of the sentence.
- boku – 僕 (ぼく) : a pronoun meaning ‘I’ in Japanese. This is used mainly by boys and young males.
- wa – は : a binding particle working as a case marker or topic marker. In the example, this works after “boku” to make the subject in the sentence.
- mae – 前 (まえ) : a suffix often used to add the meaning of ‘before’ or ‘front’ to the preceding word. In the example, this is used after “yoake” to add the meaning of ‘before’.
- ni – に : a case particle used to say when someone does something. In the example, this is used after “yoake mae” to say when the speaker woke up.
- oki – 起き (おき) : one conjugation of the verb, “okiru“, which means ‘to get up’ or ‘to wake up’ in Japanese. In the example, it has been conjugated for the better connection with its following word.
- ta – た : an auxiliary verb used after a verb, adjective, or auxiliary verb to make its past tense form. Probably, this is well known as a part of Japanese ta form. In the example, this is used after “oki” to make its past tense form, “oki ta”.
This is a typical usage of “yoake”. In this example, it works together with “mae” to say “before the dawn” in Japanese. When we want to say “dawn” in Japanese, anyway, this noun is a very good option.
Example #2: another usage of “yoake”
kore ga jidousha sangyou no yoake deshi ta – これが自動車産業の夜明けでした (これがじどうしゃさんぎょうのよあけでした)
This was the dawn of the automobile industry.
Below are the new words used in the example sentence.
- kore – これ : a demonstrative pronoun referring to a thing close to the speaker. In the example, this works to mean ‘this’ in Japanese.
- ga – が : a case particle used to make the subject word or the object word in a sentence. In the example, this is used after “kore” to make the subject in the sentence.
- jidousha – 自動車 (じどうしゃ) : a noun meaning ‘automobile’ or ‘car’ in Japanese. This can also work as plural. Learn more about Japanese plural.
- sangyou – 産業 (さんぎょう) : a noun meaning ‘industry’ in Japanese.
- no – の : a case particle joining two nouns or noun equivalent words. Normally, the first one can work as a modifier to describe the second. In the example, this works to join “jidousha sangyou” and “yoake”. The formed phrase literally means ‘the dawn of the automobile industry’ in Japanese. Word orders in Japanese and English are different, but the role of this case particle is very similar to that of the English preposition, “of”.
- deshi – でし : one conjugation of the auxiliary verb, “desu”, which is used after a noun or adjective to make it polite. In the example, it has been conjugated for the better connection with its following word.
This is another typical usage of “yoake”. In this example, it works as a metaphor for the beginning of the industry. Again, but this noun is very similar to the English one, “dawn”, in this regard as well. So, those who are familiar with English can easily understand how to use this Japanese noun as a metaphor, I think.
Summary
In this blog post, I’ve explained the definition and meanings of “yoake” in detail based on its kanji expression. And also, I’ve explained how to use it through the example sentences. Let me summarize them as follows.
- yoake – 夜明け (よあけ) : a noun meaning ‘dawn’ in Japanese. This can also mean ‘daybreak’. Native speakers use this noun to refer to the end of a night, the beginning of a day, or the moment the sun rises. In addition, they sometimes use this as a metaphor for the beginning of something, for example, a new era. So, the usages are very similar to those of the English noun, “dawn”, I think. These two kanji characters literally mean ‘the end of night’ in Japanese. This literal interpretation is very close to the actual meanings.
Hope my explanations are understandable and helpful for Japanese learners.