取る
とる
toru
= to take; to pick up; to grab; to earn; to photograph; to obtain
Few Japanese verbs pack as much meaning into two syllables as toru. Depending on which kanji you write — 取る, 撮る, or 採る — the same sound can mean grabbing something off a shelf, snapping a photo, or landing a job offer.
At its core, 取る means to take or pick up something with your hand — the physical act of reaching out and grasping. Hon wo toru (本を取る) means to pick up a book; te wo toru (手を取る) means to take someone’s hand. From this concrete meaning, the verb extends into earning or obtaining: kyūryō wo toru (給料を取る) means to earn a salary, and shikaku wo toru (資格を取る) means to obtain a qualification. It also appears in set phrases like memo wo toru (メモを取る, to take notes) and sekinin wo toru (責任を取る, to take responsibility). Tone-wise, 取る is neutral and appears in both casual and formal speech without register shift — context and surrounding sentence forms do the work of adjusting formality.
The three kanji for toru are the single most important thing to master with this verb. Use 取る for taking or obtaining physical or abstract things (kasa wo toru — 傘を取る, grabbing an umbrella). Use 撮る exclusively for photographing or filming (shashin wo toru — 写真を撮る). Use 採る for harvesting, collecting specimens, or hiring (saiyo suru is more common in formal HR contexts, but hito wo toru — 人を採る — is used conversationally). A second trap is the phrase toshi wo toru (年を取る), which means to grow older — the passing of years is framed as something you accumulate or take on, not something that happens to you. Learners who translate it literally as “to take years” get confused; think of it as “to rack up years.”
取る is built from 又 (right hand) on the left and 耳 (ear) on the right. The original pictographic idea was a soldier seizing an enemy’s ear as a trophy — a visceral image of physically claiming something. That grabbing sense survives in modern usage. The two homophones share only the sound: 撮る (to photograph) pairs 扌(hand radical) with 最 for a sense of capturing an image, while 採る (to gather, to hire) pairs 扌with 采, evoking harvesting or selecting from a group. Knowing these three kanji prevents a common writing error where learners use 取る in contexts that call for 撮る or 採る.
Everyday use
その本棚の一番上の本を取ってもらえますか？
Sono hondana no ichiban ue no hon wo totte moraemasu ka?
Could you grab the book on the very top shelf for me?
Casual / Social Media
桜が満開だから、一緒に写真を撮ろうよ！
Sakura ga mankai dakara, issho ni shashin wo torou yo!
The cherry blossoms are in full bloom — let’s take a photo together!
Formal / Cultural context
来年までに日本語能力試験N2を取るつもりです。
Rainen made ni Nihongo Nōryoku Shiken N2 wo toru tsumori desu.
I plan to obtain JLPT N2 by next year.
The phrase toshi wo toru (年を取る — to grow older) reveals something about how Japanese frames aging. Rather than describing years as passing or slipping away, the expression treats accumulated age as something actively acquired. This mirrors a broader cultural tendency to speak of life experience as a form of earned weight — something you carry rather than something that happens to you.
In workplace Japanese, sekinin wo toru (責任を取る — to take responsibility) carries significant social weight. When a company executive resigns after a scandal, news reports consistently use this phrase. Taking responsibility is treated as a concrete, decisive action — you seize it the way you’d seize an object — rather than a passive acknowledgment of fault. The verb choice reinforces accountability as something you must actively claim.