昔

past; old times; long ago; ancient times; decade

Kanji 1481

Discover how calling something "old-fashioned" in Japanese can be an insult or a compliment. Learn to say that the recent past feels like ancient history. Also learn to say "I used to be a different person," "Hollywood isn’t what it used to be," and "That was then and this is now." Find out how although 昔 can currently mean "decade," it once meant a time span as long as 66 years! 

Revision history:

June 16, 2021: 

• p. 2: Updated the Henshall etymology.
• p. 2: Deleted a sidebar called “An Oddity,” which said that the Japanese teach 昔 in third grade whereas Henshall treats it as a junior high school kanji. In his newer edition, he too classifies it as a third grade kanji. People used to learn it in high school, but not now.
• p. 11: Added a link to the Kanshudo games.

Aug. 23, 2017: p. 9: Made two changes to the photo caption, indicating that 昔懐かしい (むかしなつかしい) is one word meaning "old-timey" and changing the yomi of 村内 (interior of a village) to そんない.

Jan. 23, 2016: p. 1: Revised the photo caption to show that the whole shop is called いま昔きもの江口屋. Also added a link to the shop.

Feb. 28, 2014: Originally published.