日人經常以「道」來表示各種文化。如：花道（華道）、茶道、柔道、劍道、神道等等。到底「道」對日人來說有何具體之語義，有待考察。漢字「道」一語本來是由中國傳入，但以往中國人雖以「道」表示學問與宗教（儒．釋．道、孔孟之道、六道等），但卻沒有以「道」字表示技藝等文化，因此有必要探討日人對於「道」之語義的思考。日語裡「道」的讀法有音讀與訓讀二種。音讀為「どう」、訓讀為「みち」。本論文檢索日本具權威性的古語辭典與國語辭典，同時亦調查到平安時代為止的古典文獻，來闡明古代日人如何分別使用「道」的音讀與訓讀，並賦予何種語義。

Japanese people express various cultural practices the word "dao(way)". For example, flower arrangement (kado), the tea ceremony (sado), judo, kendo, Shintoism, etc. However, what does this "way" mean?Although the Japanese character read "michi" in the native Japanese pronunciation "do" in phonetic reading, But, researcher peel these a readings each have their proper use.I would like investigate for proper use of the character "way" by Japanese people, and what kind of meanings they give it, focusing on pre-Heian period.