上手

1. alternative form of上首(shàngshǒu,“honoredone;seat of honor”)
2. predecessor; one's superior
3. (card games) player whose turn comes next
4. expert
5. (philosophy)ready-to-hand
6. (Cantonese)previousowner ofreal estate

上手

1. tostart; tobegin
2. to get in one's hand; to get (fish, etc.) on the hook

• (to start):

上手

1. (colloquial) at the outset

/d͡ʑauzu/ →/d͡ʑɔːzu/ →/d͡ʑoːzu/

FromMiddle Chinese compound上手(dzyang^H syuw^X,“to have the upper hand → to gain mastery, to master something”, literally“top hand”).

This reading is likely a later innovation in Japanese after the initial borrowing. This uses thegoon ofjō for the first character, and thekan'yōon ofzu for the second character.

• (Tokyo)じょーず[jòózúꜜ] (Odaka – [3])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [d͡ʑo̞ːzɨ]

上(じょう)手(ず)• (jōzu) ^{←じやうず(zyauzu)?}-na (adnominal上(じょう)手(ず)な(jōzuna),adverbial上(じょう)手(ず)に(jōzuni))

1. skillful,dexterous

• 下手(へた)(heta)

上(じょう)手(ず)• (jōzu) ^{←じやうず(zyauzu)?}

1. (rare)skill,dexterity
2. flattery(from being told how skillful one is, even if one isn't)

   いつもお上手(じょうず)をいわれて自惚(うぬぼ)れた。

   Itsumo ojōzu o iwarete unuboreta.

   He was always toldflattering things and got full of himself.

3. a person with theseventhdan in the games ofshogi orgo

• (antonym(s) of“skill, dexterity”):下手(へた)(heta)

/d͡ʑauɕu/ →/d͡ʑɔːɕu/ →/d͡ʑoːɕu/

FromMiddle Chinese compound上手(dzyang^H syuw^X,“to have the upper hand → to gain mastery, to master something”, literally“top hand”).

This is thegoon reading for both characters, so likely the reading as initially borrowed.

• (Tokyo)じょーしゅ[jòóshúꜜ] (Odaka – [3])
• IPA^(key): [d͡ʑo̞ːɕɨ]

上(じょう)手(しゅ)• (jōshu) ^{←じやうしゆ(zyausyu)?}-na (adnominal上(じょう)手(しゅ)な(jōshuna),adverbial上(じょう)手(しゅ)に(jōshuni))

1. (obsolete)synonym of上手(jōzu)above

Obsolete. Replaced by thejōzu reading above.

上(じょう)手(しゅ)• (jōshu) ^{←じやうしゆ(zyausyu)?}

1. (obsolete)synonym of上手(jōzu)above

Obsolete. Replaced by thejōzu reading above.

/d͡ʑaute/ →/d͡ʑɔːte/ →/d͡ʑoːte/

Variation onjōzu above, replacing thekan'yōon ofzu with thekun'yomi ofte.

• (Tokyo)じょーて[jòótéꜜ] (Odaka – [3])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [d͡ʑo̞ːte̞]

上(じょう)手(て)• (jōte) ^{←じやうて(zyaute)?}

1. (rare)synonym of上手(jōzu)above
2. short for上手物 (jōtemono): anexquisite piece ofworkmanship

• (antonym(s) of“crude piece of workmanship”):下手物(げてもの)(getemono)

Compound of上(uwa,“up, upper”) +‎手(te,“hand”).

• (Tokyo)うわて[ùwáté] (Heiban – [0])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [ɯ̟β̞a̠te̞]

上(うわ)手(て)• (uwate) ^{←うはて(ufate)?}-na (adnominal上(うわ)手(て)な(uwatena),adverbial上(うわ)手(て)に(uwateni))

1. superior,better
2. aggressive,bold, on theoffensive

• (aggressive, bold, on the offensive):高飛車(たかびしゃ)(takabisha)

• (antonym(s) of“unaggressive, modest, on the defensive”):下手(したて)(shitate)

上(うわ)手(て)• (uwate) ^{←うはて(ufate)?}

1. (sumo) anoverhandhold
2. (sumo) theupperhand in anoverhandhold
3. upstream, the upstream portion of ariver
4. upwind
5. askilledplayer of games, such asgo orshogi

• (antonym(s) of“downstream, downwind, stage right”):下手(しもて)(shimote)

Compound of上(kami,“up, upper”) +‎手(te,“hand”).

• (Tokyo)かみて[kàmíté] (Heiban – [0])^[1]
• (Tokyo)かみて[kàmítéꜜ] (Odaka – [3])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [ka̠mʲite̞]

上(かみ)手(て)• (kamite) 

1. upstream, the upstream portion of ariver
2. upwind
3. uphill, theupper portion of ahill or othergeographicfeature
4. thehead of atable, theseat ofhonor
5. stage left: theleft-hand side of astage when looking from the stage towards theaudience
6. theleft-hand side of adrawstring on afishingnet

• (antonym(s) of“downstream, downwind, stage right”):下手(しもて)(shimote)

/kamite/ →/kaũte/ →/kaute/ →/kɔːte/ →/koːte/

Shift from上(かみ)手(て)(kamite).^[2]

• IPA^(key): [ko̞ːte̞]

上(こう)手(て)• (kōte) ^{←かうて(kaute)?}

1. (rare) theleft-hand side of adrawstring on afishingnet

• 上手(うま)い(umai)

• “上手”, in漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[2] (in Japanese),The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation,2015–2025

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