Kan-on

Kan-on or kan'on (漢音; Japanese pronunciation:or) is one of the main strata of Sino-Japanese on'yomi (音読み). It primarily reflects Late Middle Chinese readings associated with the Tang capital Chang'an, transmitted to Japan during the Nara period and early Heian period through direct contact with Tang China, including the activities of envoys and Buddhist monks.

Kan-on became a learned and officially promoted reading norm, especially for Chinese classics, while the earlier go-on tradition remained established in Buddhist and other vocabulary. The two strata therefore coexist in Japanese rather than forming a simple succession, and individual words may contain readings from both.