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Why are so many 漢字 read as よし?

I swear, every time I see someone’s name or maybe the name of a restaurant, and I think, “Hmmm, it’s probably (some 訓読み)”, it always ends up being read as よし. Why is this so common?

2 comments

  1. Very few kanji have an on’yomi or kun’yomi of よし.

    However, I believe what you are referring to is called “nanori” reading in Japanese. Take a look — Wiktionary shows 92 kanji that have a nanori reading of よし: [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:Japanese_kanji_with_nanori_reading_%E3%82%88%E3%81%97](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:Japanese_kanji_with_nanori_reading_%E3%82%88%E3%81%97)

    Here is an explanations of nanori: [https://www.imabi.net/nanori.htm](https://www.imabi.net/nanori.htm)

  2. If anything, I feel like if I don’t know a kanjis reading I can try こう or something similar and it’ll probably work.

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