According to one embodiment, a semiconductor memory includes a first memory cell stably storing data after a first time from an end of a write operation, a buffer latching the data in the write operation, and a control circuit controlling a first read operation when the first read operation is executed right after the write operation for the first memory cell is executed, where the first read operation is an operation for the first memory cell, and the first read operation is an operation reading the data from the buffer without accessing the first memory cell.