What's the difference between 上る、登る and 昇る?

Question

According to jisho.org, they all have the same meanings, to climb, to rise, to ascend. Is that true? And do they have differences in usage?

Answer 1

They do have differences in usage. I've gathered a few examples that, I hope, differentiate the meanings. First, I'll try to put them in English:

• 上る Go up
• 登る Climb
• 昇る Ascend / rise

But I don't know how helpful that is. Certainly there isn't a one-to-one mapping between those English words and those ways of writing のぼる. I think you'll get a better sense of what each one means if you look at how they're used:

上る Go up

• 川{かわ}を[上]{のぼ}る　go up the river
• 階段{かいだん}を[上]{のぼ}る　go up the stairs

登る Climb

• 山{やま}に[登]{のぼ}る　climb a mountain
• ロープで[登]{のぼ}る　climb a rope
• 木{き}に[登]{のぼ}る　climb a tree

昇る Ascend, rise

• 日{ひ}が[昇]{のぼ}る　the sun rises
• 天{てん}に[昇]{のぼ}る　rise into heaven

For more examples, see the following links:

• Entry for のぼる in the New Century Waei Jiten
• Entry for のぼる in the Progressive Waei Chū Jiten
• 登る、昇る、上る at kanpyo.net

Answer 2

There are several words with a series of kanji like this. There is usually a common kanji used for the basic verb, in this case のぼる which is usually 登る.

The others becomes more clear in kanji compounds. When using jisho.org, search for kanji details, then click on "words containing" and look for what sorts of compounds the particular kanji is used in.

Some examples:

• 昇進 {しょうしん} = promotion. Common word, Noun, Suru-verb, No-adjective

• 昇格 {しょうかく} = raising of status. Common word, Noun, Suru-verb, No-adjective

• 登山 {とざん} = mountain climbing. Common word, Noun, Suru-verb

• 登校 {とうこう} = attendance (at school); going to school. Common word, Noun, Suru-verb

• 上り {のぼり} = 1: ascent; climbing; ascending (path); climb; 2: up-train (e.g. going to Tokyo); 3: northward (towards Tokyo)