Learning Your Kanji Radicals (1-2 Strokes)
“To be truly radical is to make hope possible rather than despair convincing” – Raymond Williams quotes
In this chapter, you’ll finally get started with your kanji learning. We’re going to start simple and easy, so you’ll only be learning the 1 and 2 stroke radicals (no kanji quite yet!). Although there are kanji radicals with up to 17 strokes (wow!), it won’t be as difficult as you think. The radicals with 17 strokes is just made up of radicals with fewer strokes (which you’ve already learned, by the way), which means if we start simple, learning a 17 stroke radical is going to be about as easy as learning a 1-2 stroke radical. It’s like putting together a puzzle with the location of each piece already outlined for you.
Let’s answer your biggest question first, though: What is a radical?
To be honest, the way that radicals are usually used in Japanese tends to be pretty useless. In fact, if you ask most people, they’ll just tell you that radicals are used to (sometimes) help you figure out the meaning of a kanji. “If you see radical XYZ, then maybe this kanji has something to do with water!” Wow, that sounds pretty useless, right? Another (now useless) use for radicals is to look up words in dictionaries. Now, people just type the word into a computer.
Instead, we’re going to treat radicals differently. Radicals will give us everything, so learn to love them. In fact, I may have made up some of my own radicals to make things easier for you, so if you try to tell someone else about the radicals you’re learning, they may look at you funny (show them how awesome you are at kanji instead).
For us, though, radicals are going to be the A-B-Cs of the kanji we learn later. In your mind, radicals should be thought of as pieces you can use to put together a full-fledged kanji, put together like a puzzle. Here’s an example. Take a look at the following kanji:
This is the kanji for “walk.” To the untrained eye (we will be training your eyes!), this just looks like 8 strokes of kanji madness. Really, though, this kanji actually consists of three simpler pieces, and here are the three radicals that make it happen.
Do you see how they piece together? The first radical makes up the top part of the kanji, the second the bottom, and the third is the swipe below the second radical. Looking at these three radicals you may feel that it’s a lot to remember, but lucky for you these radicals are also made up of smaller radicals, which means they’re pretty easy to learn as long as you start simple and work your way up (exactly what we’ll be doing).
This way, instead of trying to memorize 8 separate steps (one for each stroke), your mind only has to remember 3. That’s 266% simpler than the traditional method, and you’re getting better results, too.
How We’ll Learn Kanji Radicals
Kanji radicals won’t be “easy” to learn, but they won’t be all that hard either. One thing we’ll do to make things easier is associate each radical with a mnemonic device based either on the original meaning of the radical (some of the “official” radicals have meanings already associated with them) or just something I’ve come up with based on the shape of the radical. For example, the following radical is called “unicorn with horns.”
See how there’s a unicorn horn in the middle straddled by two normal horns? If we used this particular radical to build a kanji, there’s a good chance we’d use that “story” to help us remember the completed kanji. We’ll also make it so the story helps us remember / learn the actual pronunciation of the kanji, both in terms of on-yomi and kun-yomi (Chinese and Japanese readings). The brain has a hard time remembering something it has no association with. By creating stories to go along with them based on things you already have stored in your head, you’ll be able to recall these radicals and remember kanji more easily and more effectively.
We’ll start by learning one-stroke radicals, then move up to two, three, four, etc., until we’ve gone through everything. For the most part, two stroke radicals are made up of one stroke radicals, three stroke radicals are made up of one and two stroke radicals, and so on, which means we’ll just build foundation upon foundation. Just make sure each layer of your foundation is solid before moving on to the next set, and you’ll do great. Try not to rush things, otherwise your kanji tower will come tumbling down.
Mnemonic Devices
We’ll be using a number of “mnemonic devices” (i.e. memory tricks) to help get these kanji into your long term memory so you never forget them. Another part of this is helping you learn kanji more quickly – sure, you could write the same kanji over and over again a hundred times and memorize it that way, or you could do it the TextFugu way and actually learn kanji more effectively. Here are some things we’ll be doing.
1.Take advantage of “flashbulb” memory: Flashbulb memories are essentially this - Think back to a very traumatic or shocking moment. Maybe it’s a disaster, maybe it’s the death of someone close to you, maybe it’s something completely different. For some reason, our brain remembers these things a lot more vividly than other memories. For example, I have a very clear memory of my first big earthquake. I had just put my shoes on, and opened the door to go to a violin sectional practice. A family friend was standing right outside, because he was going to drive me there. All of a sudden, everything started to shake, and I laughed while the family friend said “c’mon, c’mon, don’t just stand there, c’mon!” I can remember the trees, the sunlight, the sounds of the earth rumbling, and the expression on his face. In fact, I think I can almost remember the smell. This is what is called a “flashbulb memory,” because it’s just like taking a picture. Cheese!
2.Make things ridiculous: The more ridiculous / scary / crazy something is, the better you will remember it. How often do you remember the ordinary? I know I don’t. We’ll come up with little stories that are absolutely wild, and you’ll find that you are remembering these kanji a lot better.
3.Use Multiple Senses: You’ll have to use your imagination on this one – pretend that a particular kanji has a smell, or perhaps a feel. The more senses you use, the better and longer term your memory will be. They say that smell is one of the best ways to trigger a lost memory! Strangely enough, we’ll be using this to our advantage!
4.Put together memorable stories: Using flashbulb memories, we’ll make up stories that are associated with each kanji. The stories will be ridiculous, use key words that will help you retrieve memories that will help you remember the pronunciation of the kanji, and more. The little stories will be very important, and utilize points 1-3 to help you remember them more easily.
5.Practice: Kanji learning will be integrated into the Japanese grammar / lessons section of TextFugu as well, which means you’ll have the opportunity to practice what you’re learning and make these kanji second nature (rather than using the mnemonic devices for everything, which in the end will slow you down a bit if you rely on them completely).
At this point, we’re going to get started and you’re going to learn radicals that contain one or two strokes in them. By learning the radicals along with their association, it will be so much easier to put together kanji a little bit down the road (and use the mnemonic devices above). I’ve also created lists on Smart.fm to help you learn the radicals. First, though, go through the information provided on TextFugu. Then, follow the directions and use Smart.fm afterwards to solidify your memory of these radicals.
1-Stroke Radicals
In this section, just follow along and go with the flow. You don’t need to write anything down (at least right now). Just be sure to read everything carefully and take your time. Go for a high percentage reading retention rate, so slow things down cowboy. Each radical has something associated with it (like the horned unicorn), so the goal here is to associate the radical with the association, that way when we start learning real kanji it’ll just be a matter of putting the unicorn + horns on top of the moon (this guy: 肖) instead of 7 strokes of madness. The most important thing to melt into your memory is the first word after the image (in bold). The moment you see one of these radicals, you want to immediately think “one” or “stick” etc., so it’s easy to put them together into real-life kanji.
Color Key:
Green: Refers to something you could use with one of your senses. Could be an emotion, smell, sight, or even something you hear.
Purple: Refers to a keyword or set of keywords that will help you remember the radical more effectively.
One: This radical consists of a single stroke. Pretend an English #1 got shot, and fell over on its side. You rush over but it’s too late. It’s rigid and laying flat. You can smell the gun powder on #1′s body. Forever will the image of #1, on it’s side, be burned into your memory. This is murder!
Stick: This is a stick, standing upright. That should be pretty easy for you to remember. Stick.
Drop Of Liquid: Sure, it’s a little rigid looking, but when you see this, think of it as a drop of liquid. The drop is heavy and falling at a high speed from West to East, because of all the wind blowing in from the Pacific Ocean (you’re in Seattle, where it rains a lot!).
Slide: Like, one of those things you sit on and slide down. Remember you are sliding from right to left, because you want to slide into the Pacific Ocean (which is to the West). Whee!
Z-Hook: The reason you remember this hook is because of how terrifying it looks. The infamous “Z-hook” will catch any fish, from A-Z, which is why it’s a hook shaped like a “Z.”
Barb: This radical is shaped like a barb (like in barbed wire). Just think about how much it would hurt to pull this one out if you got stabbed by something like this, due to the barb on the end.
2-STROKE RADICALS
Congrats, you’ve gone through all the 1-stroke radicals. Not so hard, right? 2-Stroke radicals get a tiny bit more complicated, but they’re still pretty easy like the 1-strokers. We’ll go through these the same way.
Two: Remember what happened to one? Looks like it’s happened again. Double homicide, uh oh. Looks like there’s a radical murderer on the loose.
Kettle Lid: This one actually looks like the lid of a kettle, which means it should be pretty easy for you to remember.
Person: Think of this one in the following way: You have a zombie. The zombie comes at you and you push it (and you can smell it’s putrid smell), and the zombie breaks in half, the top part of its body falling to the ground and the legs staying standing up (looking like the radical above). The top-half of the zombie looks up and says: “Hey, I’m a person too, you know!”
Influential Person: This one also means person in a “this is actually an official particle with a meaning” sort of way, but we’re going to make it into an “influential person.” It kind of looks like the radical for “person” above, and it also kind of looks like the letter “i” – all that being said, it doesn’t really look like anything at all, so you’re kind of on your own with this one. It’s only two strokes, though, so it shouldn’t be too hard to remember. “i” for “influential person!”
Rice Paddy Hat: You know those rice paddy hats that you see people (and ninjas) wearing? They’re pointed at the top and totally awesome. This is one of those hats, and it looks just like them, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to remember.
Legs: Looks like a pair of legs, right?
Enter: This is another one of those official ones that we’re going to keep the meaning for (because it’s useful if we do). If you look at this radical, it looks like a tee-pee. Tee-pees have a nice entrance to let you inside of them. When you enter the tee-pee, you’re overwhelmed by the smell of strawberries. Fabulous.
Fish Legs: I know this one doesn’t make sense right now, but this falls under the category of “flashbulb memory.” It’s just too weird to forget. Two little legs used by a fish to run around. You’ll be seeing these a lot. Can you imagine a fish with two legs that look just like this, running across the beach?
Horns: These look just like two horns, right?
Upside Down Box: This box is upside down, but empty. I wonder what will be in it in the future?
Top Of The Head: It’s a bit square, but since there are no round shapes in kanji, a square shape will do fine! If it helps, imagine this as the top of Frankenstein’s head, which actually is a square / flat shape!
Ice, Water: Do you remember the drop of liquid from the 1-stroke category? When you have more than one drop, you have water (or ice, sometimes, if you freeze the water!).
Table: Do you remember “legs” from before? If you add a top to a set of legs, you have yourself a table!
Open Box: This looks just like an open box, right? Kind of like the upside down one, except this one is right side up (but also empty).
Variety Stick Rack: There is more than one kind of stick available here. A barb stick and a normal stick. Which one do you want to buy?
Power: This one means power, and looks very similar (i.e. the same as) katakana カ (which you’ll be learning soon). Imagine this radical to be a guy flexing his arm downward to show off all his power.
Enclosure: This is an enclosure – there’s nothing in it now, but eventually there will be something in here.
Knife / Sword: If you look at this radical, it kind of looks like the bottom part of a knife / sword, along with a hand-protector. The blade part is missing, but at least you have the handle! This is almost the same as “power” (力), except it is missing the nubbin on the top. Just remember: 90% of having power is having a sword to cut down your enemies!
Spoon: Sorry, this one looks nothing like a spoon, but this is another official radical that we’ll be using. This radical looks just like katakana ヒ (hi). This radical looks like a “decapitated baby (you won’t forget that!) sitting down, reaching out for a spoon.”
Box On it’s side: Uh oh, looks like the box fell over (but it didn’t break). Unbroken (but fallen) boxes always fall to the right, so this is just a box on its side.
Ten: This radical is “ten.” How many crosses do you need to make ten Catholic giraffes happy? Ten.
Shaman’s Stick: This is a stick with a feather attached to it. Be careful, if a Shaman uses this stick, he could turn you into a bird (and add your feather to his collection!).
Seal: No, not the animal. I’m talking about the “sealing up a hole” kind of seal. If you look at this radical, you’ll see that it almost seals the hole, but not quite. It’s a bad seal.
Cliff: This one totally looks like a cliff. Just remember, this cliff is facing the Pacific Ocean, and you are in the Western part of the United States, looking out at the waves (that means the cliff is facing West), feeling the sea breeze on your face.
Me/I: This one doesn’t make much sense right now, but it will later on. This just means “me” – there will be an upside down version of this which is also “me” but we’ll learn that in a moment. “I can’t finish drawing this triangle.” So sad.
Stool: This looks just like a stool, right?
Me Me Me! (Selfish Me): Notice how this one looks almost like the “me/I” from earlier? It’s just a little flipped around. This one will be associated with selfish (me) acts.
Nine: This one actually means “nine,” and if you look at it (especially with the little flippy stroke on the right side), it looks like the letter “n” and “i” next to each other, written in cursive, which are the letters you need to start to write the word “nine.”
Broken Box: Remember how unbroken boxes always fall to the right? Well, broken boxes fall to the left. See how this one almost looks like the fallen box, except there’s a stroke that goes out farther on the bottom? That’s a broken box piece right there, which is why we’re calling this one the broken box.
Stairs: Do you see the stairs in there? It might take some imagination, but they’re there (or at least a couple steps are there). Once you get to the top of the stairs there’s a slide (like the slide from the 1-stroke section) that you can go down. Sweet!
Nail: See the barb + nail head? That makes a nail. There is also an “alternate” version of this radical, coming next:
Crooked Nail: This nail is lopsided towards the left. Imagine your frustration of having to work with a crooked nail like this.
Volcano: This radical is very similar to the enter and person radicals. It is, however, distinctly volcano-ish, with the blown top.
Leaf: See the stem attached to the leaf? That right there is a leaf, and you’ll be seeing various forms of this in a lot of kanji.
Wednesday, August 04, 2010
Tuesday, August 03, 2010
• Go-on (呉音
• Go-on (呉音; literalmente Som Wu), pronúncia da região Wu.
• Kan-on (漢音; literalmente Som Han) pronúncia durante a Dinastia Tang entre os séculos VII e IX.
• Tō-on (唐音；literalmente Som Tang) pronúncia das últimas dinastias, como a Dinastia Song e a Dinastia Ming.
• Kan'yō-on (慣用音)
Kan-on (漢音),Kan'yō-on (慣用音),Tō-on (唐音),Go-on (呉音
Comparisons of Traditional, Simplified and Kanji
Comparisons of Traditional characters, Simplified Chinese characters, and Simplified Japanese characters in their modern standardized forms 1
Traditional
Chinese simp.
Japanese simp.
meaning
Simplified in Chinese, not Japanese 電 电 電 electricity
開 开 開 open
東 东 東 east
車 车 車 car, vehicle
紅 红 紅 red (crimson in Japanese)
無 无 無 nothing
鳥 鸟 鳥 bird
熱 热 熱 hot
時 时 時 time
語 语 語 language
"Simplified" in Japanese, not Chinese
(in some cases this represents the adoption of
different variant forms as standard) 佛 佛 仏 Buddha
惠 惠 恵 favour
德 德 徳 moral, virtue
拜 拜 拝 kowtow, pray to, worship
黑 黑 黒 black
冰 冰 氷 ice
兔 兔 兎 rabbit
妒 妒 妬 jealousy
Simplified in both, but differently 聽 听 聴 listen
證 证 証 certificate, proof
龍 龙 竜 dragon
龜 龟 亀 turtle, tortoise
歲 岁 歳 age, year
戰 战 戦 fight, war
關 关 関 close
鐵 铁 鉄 iron, metal
圖 图 図 picture, diagram
團 团 団 group, regiment
轉 转 転 turn
廣 广 広 wide, broad
惡 恶 悪 bad, evil
豐 丰 豊 abundant
腦 脑 脳 brain
樂 乐 楽 fun
氣 气 気 air
廳 厅 庁 hall, office
Simplified in both in the same way 學 学 学 learn
體 体 体 body
點 点 点 dot, point
畫 画 画 painting, drawing
貓 猫 猫 cat
蟲 虫 虫 insect
黃 黄 黄 yellow
會 会 会 meeting
萬 万 万 ten-thousand
盜 盗 盗 thief
寶 宝 宝 treasure
國 国 国 country
醫 医 医 medicine
The following is a list of all 214 Kangxi radicals, used originally in the 1615 Zihui and adopted by the 1716 Kangxi dictionary, in order of the number of strokes along with some examples of characters containing them. This list has become such a common standard that sometimes radicals are referred to by number alone. A reference to "radical 61", for example, without additional context, means 心.
See Chinese characters and Chinese character radicals for more information on how these radicals are used in written Chinese.
The Kangxi dictionary lists a total of 47,035 characters divided among the 214 radicals. There are seven radicals which form more than 1,000 characters each:
• Radical 140 艸 "grass" (1,902)
• Radical 85 水 "water" (1,595)
• Radical 75 木 "tree" (1,369)
• Radical 64 手 "hand" (1,203)
• Radical 30 口 "mouth" (1,146)
• Radical 61 心 "heart" (1,115)
• Radical 142 虫 "insect" (1,067)
The lowest number of characters derived from any radical is five (Radical 138 艮).
The Kangxi radicals are encoded in the Unicode U+2F00–2FDF range. These are specific codepoints for the radicals as distinct from the characters consisting of the unaugmented radicals. Thus U+2F00 ⼀ represents the radical no. 1 while U+4E00 一 represents the character yī meaning "one". Additional radicals are found in the CJK Radicals Supplement range (2E80–2EFF).
Table of radicals
No. Radical (variants) Stroke count Pīnyīn
Meaning Frequency Simplified
Examples
1
一 1 yī one 42 七三不世
2
丨 1 gǔn line 21 中
3
丶 1 zhǔ dot 10 丸主
4
丿 1 piě slash 33 久之乎
5
乛 (乙, ⺄, 乚) 1 yǐ second 42 九也
6
亅 1 jué hook 19 了事
7
二 2 èr two 29 五井些亞
8
亠 2 tóu lid 38 亡交京
9
人(亻) 2 rén man, human 794 仁休位今
10
儿 2 ér legs 52 兄元
11
入 2 rù enter 28 入兩
12
八 2 bā eight 44 公六共兵
13
冂 2 jiōng open country 50 内再
14
冖 2 mī cover 30 冗冠
15
冫 2 bīng ice 115 冬冶冷凍
16
几 2 jī table 38 凡
17
凵 2 qǔ container, open mouth 23 凶出函
18
刀(刂) 2 dāo
knife, sword 377 刀分切初利刻則前
19
力 2 lì power, force 163 力加助勉
20
勹 2 bāo wrap, embrace 64 勾包
21
匕 2 bǐ spoon 19 化北
22
匚 2 fāng box 64 匣
23
匸 2 xǐ hiding enclosure 17 匹區
24
十 2 shí
ten, complete 55 十午半博
25
卜 2 bǔ divination 45 占卦
26
卩 2 jié kneel 40 印危卵
27
厂 2 hàn, chǎng cliff 129 厚原
28
厶 2 sī private 40 去參
29
又 2 yòu right hand 91 友反取受
30
口 3 kǒu mouth, opening 1,146 口古可名君否呉告周味命和哲唐善器
31
囗 3 wéi enclosure 118 四回國圖
32
土 3 tǔ earth 580 土在地型城場壁壓
33
士 3 shì scholar, bachelor 24 士壹
34
夂 3 zhǐ go 11 (夂)
35
夊 3 suī go slowly 23 夏
36
夕 3 xī evening, sunset 34 夕外多夜
37
大 3 dà big, very 132 大天奈奧
38
女 3 nǚ woman, female 681 女好妄妻姉始姓姫
39
子 3 zǐ child, seed 83 子孔字學
40
宀 3 mián roof 246 守家寒實
41
寸 3 cùn thumb, inch 40 寸寺尊將
42
小 3 xiǎo small, insignificant 41 小少
43
尢, 尣 3 wāng lame 66 就
44
尸 3 shī corpse 148 尺局
45
屮 3 chè sprout 38 屯
46
山 3 shān
mountain 636 山岡岩島
47
巛 (川, 巜) 3 chuān river 26 川州巡
48
工 3 gōng work 17 工左巫差
49
己 巳 已 㔾 3 jǐ oneself 20 己巳
50
巾 3 jīn turban, scarf 295 市布帝常
51
干 3 gān pestle 9 平年
52
幺 3 yāo short, tiny 50 幻幼
53
广 3 yǎn house on cliff 15 序店府度座庭廣廳
54
廴 3 yín long stride 9 延
55
廾 3 gǒng two hands, twenty 50 弁
56
弋 3 yì shoot, arrow 15 式弑
57
弓 3 gōng
bow 165 弓引弟弱彌
58
彐 (彑) 3 jì pig snout 25 彖
59
彡 3 shān bristle, beard 62 形彦
60
彳 3 chì step 215 役彼後得徳徼
61
心 (忄⺗) 4 xīn heart 1,115 必忙忌性悪情想
62
戈 4 gē spear, halberd 116 成式弐戦
63
戶, 户, 戸 4 hù door, house 44 戸戻所
64
手 (扌龵) 4 shǒu hand 1,203 手 持 掛 挙 拜 拳 掌 掣 擧 (打 批 技 抱 押)
65
支 4 zhī branch 26 攱攲
66
攴(攵) 4 pū rap 296 收敍數斅
67
文 4 wén
script, literature 26 文 斊 斈 斌 斐 斑 斕
68
斗 4 dǒu dipper 32 料 斡
69
斤 4 jīn axe 55 斦 斧 新 斥 斬 斷
70
方 4 fāng square 92 方 放 旅 族
71
无 4 mó
perish 12 无 旡 既 旣
72
日 4 rì sun, day 453 日白百明的映時晩
73
曰 4 yuē say 37 書 最 晉 曷 曹 曾
74
月 4 yuè
moon, month 69 有 服 青 朝
75
木 4 mù tree 1,369 木 杢 板 相 根 森 楽 機 末 本 杉 林
76
欠 4 qiàn lack, yawn 235 欣 欽 欧 欲 歌
77
止 4 zhǐ stop 99 正 歩 此 步 武 歪 歲
78
歹 (歺) 4 dǎi death, decay 231 死 列 殕
79
殳 4 shū weapon, lance 93 役 投 殴 殷
80
毋 (母, ⺟) 4 wú mother, do not 16 毋 母 毎 姆 梅
81
比 4 bǐ compare, compete 21 皆 批 毕 毖 毘 毚
82
毛 4 máo fur, hair 211 毟 毡 毦 毫 毳 耗
83
氏 4 shì clan 10 氏 民 紙 婚 氓
84
气 4 qì
steam, breath 17 気 汽 氧
85
水 (氵,氺) 4 shuǐ water 1,595 水 永 泳 決 治 海 演 漢 瀬
86
火 (灬) 4 huǒ fire 639 火 灯 毯 爆 (烈 烹 焦 然 煮)
87
爪(爫) 4 zhǎo claw 36 爬 爯 爭 爰 爲
88
父 4 fù father 10 斧 釜
89
爻 4 yáo mix, twine, cross 16 爼 爽 爾
90
爿 4 qiáng split wood 48 牀 奘 牃
91
片 4 piàn slice 77 版 牌 牒
92
牙 4 yá fang 9 芽 呀 牚
93
牛(牜) 4 niú cow 233 告 牟 牧 物 特 解
94
犬(犭) 4 quǎn dog 444 犬 犯 狂 狙 狗 献 獣
95
玄 5 xuán dark, profound 6 弦玆
96
玉 (王) 5 yù (wáng) jade (king) 473 ⺩ 王 玉 主 弄 皇 理 差 聖
97
瓜 5 guā melon 55 呱 瓞
98
瓦 5 wǎ tile 174 瓧 瓮 甄
99
甘 5 gān sweet 22 柑 甜 酣
100
生 5 shēng life 22 牲 笙 甥
101
用(甩) 5 yòng use 10 佣 甬 甯
102
田 5 tián field 192 田 町 思 留 略 番
103
疋(⺪) 5 pǐ bolt of cloth 15 疏 楚 胥 延
104
疒 5 chuáng sickness 526 病 症 痛 癌 癖
105
癶 5 bō footsteps 15 発 登
106
白 5 bái white 109 皃 的 皆 皇
107
皮 5 pí skin 94 披 彼 波
108
皿 5 mǐn dish 129 盂 盉 盍 監 蘯
109
目 5 mù eye 647 目 見 具 省 眠 眼 観 覧
110
矛 5 máo spear 65 茅 矜
111
矢 5 shǐ arrow 64 医 族 矩
112
石 5 shí stone 499 石 岩 砂 破 碑 碧
113
示 (礻) 5 shì sign 213 示 礼 社 奈 神 祭 視 禁 福
114
禸 5 róu track 12 禹 禺 禽
115
禾 5 hé grain 431 利 私 季 和 科 香 秦 穀
116
穴 5 xué cave 298 空 突 窅 窘 窩 窶 竇
117
立 5 lì stand, erect 101 立 音 産 翌 意 新 端 親 競
118
竹 (⺮) 6 zhú bamboo 953 竺 笑 第 等 簡
119
米 6 mǐ rice 318 料 断 奥 糊 麟
120
糸 (糹) 6 mì silk 823 ⺰ 系 級 紙 素 細 組 終 絵 紫
121
缶 6 fǒu jar 77 缶 缸 窑 陶
122
网 (罒,⺲,罓,⺳) 6 wǎng net 163 買 罪 置 羅
123
羊(⺶,) 6 yáng sheep 156 着 羚 翔 着
124
羽 6 yǔ feather 220 習 翀 翁 翔
125
老 (耂) 6 lǎo old 22 耆孝耋
126
而 6 ér beard 22 耎耐耑
127
耒 6 lěi plow 84 耔 耝 耨 耰
128
耳 6 ěr ear 172 取 聞 職 叢
129
聿 (⺻) 6 yù brush 19 律 書 建
130
肉 (⺼) 6 ròu meat 674 肉 肖 股 胃 腅 脤
131
臣 6 chén minster, official 16 臥 宦 蔵
132
自 6 zì self 34 自 臫 臬 臲
133
至 6 zhì arrive 24 致 臸 臺
134
臼 6 jiù mortar 71 桕 舅 舂 鼠 插
135
舌 6 shé tongue 31 乱 适 話 舍
136
舛 6 chuǎn opposite 10 舛 舜 舞
137
舟 6 zhōu boat 197 航 船 艦
138
艮 6 gēn stopping 5 良 飲 很
139
色 6 sè colour, prettiness 21 色 艴 艷
140
艸 (艹) 6 cǎo grass 1,902 共 花 英 苦 草 茶 落 幕 靴 鞄 薬
141
虍 6 hū
tiger stripes 114 虎 虐 彪 虒
142
虫 6 chóng insect 1,067 蚯 蚓 強 触 蟻 蟹
143
血 6 xuè blood 60 洫 衁 衅 衆
144
行 6 xíng go, do 53 行 衍 術 衝
145
衣 (衤) 6 yī clothes 607 衣 初 被 装 裁 複
146
西(襾,覀) 6 xī west 29 西 要 覊
147
見 7 jiàn see 161 见 規 親 覺 觀
148
角 7 jiǎo horn 158 觚 解 觕 觥 觸
149
言 (訁) 7 yán speech 861 讠 誁 詋 詔 評 詗 詥 試 詧
150
谷 7 gǔ valley 54 谿 豀 谸
151
豆 7 dòu bean 68 豈 豐 豎
152
豕 7 shǐ pig 148 豖 豚 象
153
豸 7 zhì cat, badger 140 豹 貌 貓 貈 貉
154
貝 7 bèi shell 277 贝 財 賊 賜 贛 貧 貨 貫 貿
155
赤 7 chì red, naked 31 赫 赭
156
走 (赱) 7 zǒu run 285 赴 起 超
157
足(⻊) 7 zú foot 580 跑 跨 跟 跪 路
158
身 7 shēn body 97 躬 躲 軀
159
車 7 chē cart, car 361 车 軌 軟 較 軍 載
160
辛 7 xīn bitter 36 辜 辟 辣 辦 辨
161
辰 7 chén morning 15 辱 農
162
辵 (辶⻌⻍) 7 chuò / zouzhi walk 381 巡 迎 通 追 逃 辶 迎 進
163
邑 (阝) 7 yì town (阝 right) 350 那 邦 郎 部 郭 都 鄉
164
酉 7 yǒu wine, alcohol 290 醉 酱 油 醒 酸
165
釆 7 biàn divide, distinguish, choose 14 釉 釋
166
里 7 lǐ village, mile 14 野 野
167
金 (釒) 8 jīn metal, gold 806 钅 銀 銅 釘 銳 鋞 鋙 鉒 鉍 鉗 鈡 鈠
168
長, 镸 8 cháng long, grow 55 长 镸 镽
169
門 8 mén gate 246 门 間 閑 關 闘 閉 開 閏 間 關
170
阜 (阝) 8 fù mound, dam (阝 left) 348 阪 防 阻 陆 陘 院 险 陳
171
隶 8 lì slave, capture 12 隸 隺
172
隹 8 zhuī small bird 233 雀 集 雁 难 雀 雅
173
雨 8 yǔ rain 298 雾 霜 雪 霸 雪 雲 霧
174
青, 靑 8 qīng blue 17 靕 靖 靜
175
非 8 fēi wrong 25 靠 靠 靟
176
面, (靣) 9 miàn face 66 靦 靨
177
革 9 gé leather, rawhide 305 靴 鞍 鞅 鞍 鞭
178
韋 9 wéi tanned leather 100 韦 韋 韓 韜
179
韭 9 jiǔ leek 20 韱 韲
180
音 9 yīn sound 43 韶 韻 韾
181
頁 9 yè leaf 372 页 頃 項 順 須 領 頭 頩 頂
182
風 9 fēng wind 182 风 颱 飄 颿 颩 颪
183
飛 9 fēi fly 92 飞 飜 飝
184
食, (飠) 9 shí eat, food 403 饣 飯 飲 餓 餘 餐 養
185
首 9 shǒu head 20 馗 馘
186
香 9 xiāng fragrance 37 馨 馫
187
馬 10 mǎ horse 472 马 馮 馴 馳 駐 驚
188
骨 10 gǔ bone 185 骼 髒 髀 骿 骾
189
高, (髙) 10 gāo tall 34 髚 髛
190
髟 10 biāo long hair 243 髮 鬚 鬆 鬍 髦
191
鬥 10 dòu fight 23 鬧 鬪
192
鬯 10 chàng herbs, sacrificial wine 8 鬰 鬱
193
鬲 10 lì tripod, cauldron 73 鬶 鬷 鬸
194
鬼 10 guǐ ghost, demon 141 魂 魁 鬽 魄
195
魚 11 yú fish 571 鱼 鯉 鮑 魛 魜 魝 魞 魟 魠
196
鳥 11 niǎo bird 750 鸟 鳫 鳮 鳱 鳳 鳴 鳿 雞 鳴 鴻 鴛
197
鹵 11 lǔ salt 44 卤 鹹 鹼 鹽
198
鹿 11 lù deer 104 塵 麃 麋 麉 麟
199
麥 11 mài wheat 131 麦 麴 麵 麱 麨 麺
200
麻 11 má hemp, flax 34 麼 魔
201
黃 12 huáng yellow 42 黊 黌
202
黍 12 shǔ millet 46 黏 黎
203
黑 12 hēi black 172 點 黛 黱 黨
204
黹 12 zhǐ embroidery, needlework 8 黼 黻
205
黽 13 mǐn frog, amphibian 40 黾 鼈 黿 鼆
206
鼎 13 dǐng tripod 14 鼏 鼒
207
鼓 13 gǔ drum 46 鼗 鼘
208
鼠 13 shǔ rat, mouse 92 鼢 鼣 鼤
209
鼻 14 bí nose 49 鼼 鼽 鼿
210
齊 14 qí even, uniformly 18 齐 齋 齏 齏
211
齒 15 chǐ tooth, molar 162 齿 齡 齠 齗
212
龍 16 lóng dragon 14 龙 龖 龘
213
龜 16 guī turtle, tortoise 24 龟 龝
214
龠 17 yuè flute 19 龣 龤
• Go-on (呉音; literalmente Som Wu), pronúncia da região Wu.
• Kan-on (漢音; literalmente Som Han) pronúncia durante a Dinastia Tang entre os séculos VII e IX.
• Tō-on (唐音；literalmente Som Tang) pronúncia das últimas dinastias, como a Dinastia Song e a Dinastia Ming.
• Kan'yō-on (慣用音)
Kan-on (漢音),Kan'yō-on (慣用音),Tō-on (唐音),Go-on (呉音
Comparisons of Traditional, Simplified and Kanji
Comparisons of Traditional characters, Simplified Chinese characters, and Simplified Japanese characters in their modern standardized forms 1
Traditional
Chinese simp.
Japanese simp.
meaning
Simplified in Chinese, not Japanese 電 电 電 electricity
開 开 開 open
東 东 東 east
車 车 車 car, vehicle
紅 红 紅 red (crimson in Japanese)
無 无 無 nothing
鳥 鸟 鳥 bird
熱 热 熱 hot
時 时 時 time
語 语 語 language
"Simplified" in Japanese, not Chinese
(in some cases this represents the adoption of
different variant forms as standard) 佛 佛 仏 Buddha
惠 惠 恵 favour
德 德 徳 moral, virtue
拜 拜 拝 kowtow, pray to, worship
黑 黑 黒 black
冰 冰 氷 ice
兔 兔 兎 rabbit
妒 妒 妬 jealousy
Simplified in both, but differently 聽 听 聴 listen
證 证 証 certificate, proof
龍 龙 竜 dragon
龜 龟 亀 turtle, tortoise
歲 岁 歳 age, year
戰 战 戦 fight, war
關 关 関 close
鐵 铁 鉄 iron, metal
圖 图 図 picture, diagram
團 团 団 group, regiment
轉 转 転 turn
廣 广 広 wide, broad
惡 恶 悪 bad, evil
豐 丰 豊 abundant
腦 脑 脳 brain
樂 乐 楽 fun
氣 气 気 air
廳 厅 庁 hall, office
Simplified in both in the same way 學 学 学 learn
體 体 体 body
點 点 点 dot, point
畫 画 画 painting, drawing
貓 猫 猫 cat
蟲 虫 虫 insect
黃 黄 黄 yellow
會 会 会 meeting
萬 万 万 ten-thousand
盜 盗 盗 thief
寶 宝 宝 treasure
國 国 国 country
醫 医 医 medicine
The following is a list of all 214 Kangxi radicals, used originally in the 1615 Zihui and adopted by the 1716 Kangxi dictionary, in order of the number of strokes along with some examples of characters containing them. This list has become such a common standard that sometimes radicals are referred to by number alone. A reference to "radical 61", for example, without additional context, means 心.
See Chinese characters and Chinese character radicals for more information on how these radicals are used in written Chinese.
The Kangxi dictionary lists a total of 47,035 characters divided among the 214 radicals. There are seven radicals which form more than 1,000 characters each:
• Radical 140 艸 "grass" (1,902)
• Radical 85 水 "water" (1,595)
• Radical 75 木 "tree" (1,369)
• Radical 64 手 "hand" (1,203)
• Radical 30 口 "mouth" (1,146)
• Radical 61 心 "heart" (1,115)
• Radical 142 虫 "insect" (1,067)
The lowest number of characters derived from any radical is five (Radical 138 艮).
The Kangxi radicals are encoded in the Unicode U+2F00–2FDF range. These are specific codepoints for the radicals as distinct from the characters consisting of the unaugmented radicals. Thus U+2F00 ⼀ represents the radical no. 1 while U+4E00 一 represents the character yī meaning "one". Additional radicals are found in the CJK Radicals Supplement range (2E80–2EFF).
Table of radicals
No. Radical (variants) Stroke count Pīnyīn
Meaning Frequency Simplified
Examples
1
一 1 yī one 42 七三不世
2
丨 1 gǔn line 21 中
3
丶 1 zhǔ dot 10 丸主
4
丿 1 piě slash 33 久之乎
5
乛 (乙, ⺄, 乚) 1 yǐ second 42 九也
6
亅 1 jué hook 19 了事
7
二 2 èr two 29 五井些亞
8
亠 2 tóu lid 38 亡交京
9
人(亻) 2 rén man, human 794 仁休位今
10
儿 2 ér legs 52 兄元
11
入 2 rù enter 28 入兩
12
八 2 bā eight 44 公六共兵
13
冂 2 jiōng open country 50 内再
14
冖 2 mī cover 30 冗冠
15
冫 2 bīng ice 115 冬冶冷凍
16
几 2 jī table 38 凡
17
凵 2 qǔ container, open mouth 23 凶出函
18
刀(刂) 2 dāo
knife, sword 377 刀分切初利刻則前
19
力 2 lì power, force 163 力加助勉
20
勹 2 bāo wrap, embrace 64 勾包
21
匕 2 bǐ spoon 19 化北
22
匚 2 fāng box 64 匣
23
匸 2 xǐ hiding enclosure 17 匹區
24
十 2 shí
ten, complete 55 十午半博
25
卜 2 bǔ divination 45 占卦
26
卩 2 jié kneel 40 印危卵
27
厂 2 hàn, chǎng cliff 129 厚原
28
厶 2 sī private 40 去參
29
又 2 yòu right hand 91 友反取受
30
口 3 kǒu mouth, opening 1,146 口古可名君否呉告周味命和哲唐善器
31
囗 3 wéi enclosure 118 四回國圖
32
土 3 tǔ earth 580 土在地型城場壁壓
33
士 3 shì scholar, bachelor 24 士壹
34
夂 3 zhǐ go 11 (夂)
35
夊 3 suī go slowly 23 夏
36
夕 3 xī evening, sunset 34 夕外多夜
37
大 3 dà big, very 132 大天奈奧
38
女 3 nǚ woman, female 681 女好妄妻姉始姓姫
39
子 3 zǐ child, seed 83 子孔字學
40
宀 3 mián roof 246 守家寒實
41
寸 3 cùn thumb, inch 40 寸寺尊將
42
小 3 xiǎo small, insignificant 41 小少
43
尢, 尣 3 wāng lame 66 就
44
尸 3 shī corpse 148 尺局
45
屮 3 chè sprout 38 屯
46
山 3 shān
mountain 636 山岡岩島
47
巛 (川, 巜) 3 chuān river 26 川州巡
48
工 3 gōng work 17 工左巫差
49
己 巳 已 㔾 3 jǐ oneself 20 己巳
50
巾 3 jīn turban, scarf 295 市布帝常
51
干 3 gān pestle 9 平年
52
幺 3 yāo short, tiny 50 幻幼
53
广 3 yǎn house on cliff 15 序店府度座庭廣廳
54
廴 3 yín long stride 9 延
55
廾 3 gǒng two hands, twenty 50 弁
56
弋 3 yì shoot, arrow 15 式弑
57
弓 3 gōng
bow 165 弓引弟弱彌
58
彐 (彑) 3 jì pig snout 25 彖
59
彡 3 shān bristle, beard 62 形彦
60
彳 3 chì step 215 役彼後得徳徼
61
心 (忄⺗) 4 xīn heart 1,115 必忙忌性悪情想
62
戈 4 gē spear, halberd 116 成式弐戦
63
戶, 户, 戸 4 hù door, house 44 戸戻所
64
手 (扌龵) 4 shǒu hand 1,203 手 持 掛 挙 拜 拳 掌 掣 擧 (打 批 技 抱 押)
65
支 4 zhī branch 26 攱攲
66
攴(攵) 4 pū rap 296 收敍數斅
67
文 4 wén
script, literature 26 文 斊 斈 斌 斐 斑 斕
68
斗 4 dǒu dipper 32 料 斡
69
斤 4 jīn axe 55 斦 斧 新 斥 斬 斷
70
方 4 fāng square 92 方 放 旅 族
71
无 4 mó
perish 12 无 旡 既 旣
72
日 4 rì sun, day 453 日白百明的映時晩
73
曰 4 yuē say 37 書 最 晉 曷 曹 曾
74
月 4 yuè
moon, month 69 有 服 青 朝
75
木 4 mù tree 1,369 木 杢 板 相 根 森 楽 機 末 本 杉 林
76
欠 4 qiàn lack, yawn 235 欣 欽 欧 欲 歌
77
止 4 zhǐ stop 99 正 歩 此 步 武 歪 歲
78
歹 (歺) 4 dǎi death, decay 231 死 列 殕
79
殳 4 shū weapon, lance 93 役 投 殴 殷
80
毋 (母, ⺟) 4 wú mother, do not 16 毋 母 毎 姆 梅
81
比 4 bǐ compare, compete 21 皆 批 毕 毖 毘 毚
82
毛 4 máo fur, hair 211 毟 毡 毦 毫 毳 耗
83
氏 4 shì clan 10 氏 民 紙 婚 氓
84
气 4 qì
steam, breath 17 気 汽 氧
85
水 (氵,氺) 4 shuǐ water 1,595 水 永 泳 決 治 海 演 漢 瀬
86
火 (灬) 4 huǒ fire 639 火 灯 毯 爆 (烈 烹 焦 然 煮)
87
爪(爫) 4 zhǎo claw 36 爬 爯 爭 爰 爲
88
父 4 fù father 10 斧 釜
89
爻 4 yáo mix, twine, cross 16 爼 爽 爾
90
爿 4 qiáng split wood 48 牀 奘 牃
91
片 4 piàn slice 77 版 牌 牒
92
牙 4 yá fang 9 芽 呀 牚
93
牛(牜) 4 niú cow 233 告 牟 牧 物 特 解
94
犬(犭) 4 quǎn dog 444 犬 犯 狂 狙 狗 献 獣
95
玄 5 xuán dark, profound 6 弦玆
96
玉 (王) 5 yù (wáng) jade (king) 473 ⺩ 王 玉 主 弄 皇 理 差 聖
97
瓜 5 guā melon 55 呱 瓞
98
瓦 5 wǎ tile 174 瓧 瓮 甄
99
甘 5 gān sweet 22 柑 甜 酣
100
生 5 shēng life 22 牲 笙 甥
101
用(甩) 5 yòng use 10 佣 甬 甯
102
田 5 tián field 192 田 町 思 留 略 番
103
疋(⺪) 5 pǐ bolt of cloth 15 疏 楚 胥 延
104
疒 5 chuáng sickness 526 病 症 痛 癌 癖
105
癶 5 bō footsteps 15 発 登
106
白 5 bái white 109 皃 的 皆 皇
107
皮 5 pí skin 94 披 彼 波
108
皿 5 mǐn dish 129 盂 盉 盍 監 蘯
109
目 5 mù eye 647 目 見 具 省 眠 眼 観 覧
110
矛 5 máo spear 65 茅 矜
111
矢 5 shǐ arrow 64 医 族 矩
112
石 5 shí stone 499 石 岩 砂 破 碑 碧
113
示 (礻) 5 shì sign 213 示 礼 社 奈 神 祭 視 禁 福
114
禸 5 róu track 12 禹 禺 禽
115
禾 5 hé grain 431 利 私 季 和 科 香 秦 穀
116
穴 5 xué cave 298 空 突 窅 窘 窩 窶 竇
117
立 5 lì stand, erect 101 立 音 産 翌 意 新 端 親 競
118
竹 (⺮) 6 zhú bamboo 953 竺 笑 第 等 簡
119
米 6 mǐ rice 318 料 断 奥 糊 麟
120
糸 (糹) 6 mì silk 823 ⺰ 系 級 紙 素 細 組 終 絵 紫
121
缶 6 fǒu jar 77 缶 缸 窑 陶
122
网 (罒,⺲,罓,⺳) 6 wǎng net 163 買 罪 置 羅
123
羊(⺶,) 6 yáng sheep 156 着 羚 翔 着
124
羽 6 yǔ feather 220 習 翀 翁 翔
125
老 (耂) 6 lǎo old 22 耆孝耋
126
而 6 ér beard 22 耎耐耑
127
耒 6 lěi plow 84 耔 耝 耨 耰
128
耳 6 ěr ear 172 取 聞 職 叢
129
聿 (⺻) 6 yù brush 19 律 書 建
130
肉 (⺼) 6 ròu meat 674 肉 肖 股 胃 腅 脤
131
臣 6 chén minster, official 16 臥 宦 蔵
132
自 6 zì self 34 自 臫 臬 臲
133
至 6 zhì arrive 24 致 臸 臺
134
臼 6 jiù mortar 71 桕 舅 舂 鼠 插
135
舌 6 shé tongue 31 乱 适 話 舍
136
舛 6 chuǎn opposite 10 舛 舜 舞
137
舟 6 zhōu boat 197 航 船 艦
138
艮 6 gēn stopping 5 良 飲 很
139
色 6 sè colour, prettiness 21 色 艴 艷
140
艸 (艹) 6 cǎo grass 1,902 共 花 英 苦 草 茶 落 幕 靴 鞄 薬
141
虍 6 hū
tiger stripes 114 虎 虐 彪 虒
142
虫 6 chóng insect 1,067 蚯 蚓 強 触 蟻 蟹
143
血 6 xuè blood 60 洫 衁 衅 衆
144
行 6 xíng go, do 53 行 衍 術 衝
145
衣 (衤) 6 yī clothes 607 衣 初 被 装 裁 複
146
西(襾,覀) 6 xī west 29 西 要 覊
147
見 7 jiàn see 161 见 規 親 覺 觀
148
角 7 jiǎo horn 158 觚 解 觕 觥 觸
149
言 (訁) 7 yán speech 861 讠 誁 詋 詔 評 詗 詥 試 詧
150
谷 7 gǔ valley 54 谿 豀 谸
151
豆 7 dòu bean 68 豈 豐 豎
152
豕 7 shǐ pig 148 豖 豚 象
153
豸 7 zhì cat, badger 140 豹 貌 貓 貈 貉
154
貝 7 bèi shell 277 贝 財 賊 賜 贛 貧 貨 貫 貿
155
赤 7 chì red, naked 31 赫 赭
156
走 (赱) 7 zǒu run 285 赴 起 超
157
足(⻊) 7 zú foot 580 跑 跨 跟 跪 路
158
身 7 shēn body 97 躬 躲 軀
159
車 7 chē cart, car 361 车 軌 軟 較 軍 載
160
辛 7 xīn bitter 36 辜 辟 辣 辦 辨
161
辰 7 chén morning 15 辱 農
162
辵 (辶⻌⻍) 7 chuò / zouzhi walk 381 巡 迎 通 追 逃 辶 迎 進
163
邑 (阝) 7 yì town (阝 right) 350 那 邦 郎 部 郭 都 鄉
164
酉 7 yǒu wine, alcohol 290 醉 酱 油 醒 酸
165
釆 7 biàn divide, distinguish, choose 14 釉 釋
166
里 7 lǐ village, mile 14 野 野
167
金 (釒) 8 jīn metal, gold 806 钅 銀 銅 釘 銳 鋞 鋙 鉒 鉍 鉗 鈡 鈠
168
長, 镸 8 cháng long, grow 55 长 镸 镽
169
門 8 mén gate 246 门 間 閑 關 闘 閉 開 閏 間 關
170
阜 (阝) 8 fù mound, dam (阝 left) 348 阪 防 阻 陆 陘 院 险 陳
171
隶 8 lì slave, capture 12 隸 隺
172
隹 8 zhuī small bird 233 雀 集 雁 难 雀 雅
173
雨 8 yǔ rain 298 雾 霜 雪 霸 雪 雲 霧
174
青, 靑 8 qīng blue 17 靕 靖 靜
175
非 8 fēi wrong 25 靠 靠 靟
176
面, (靣) 9 miàn face 66 靦 靨
177
革 9 gé leather, rawhide 305 靴 鞍 鞅 鞍 鞭
178
韋 9 wéi tanned leather 100 韦 韋 韓 韜
179
韭 9 jiǔ leek 20 韱 韲
180
音 9 yīn sound 43 韶 韻 韾
181
頁 9 yè leaf 372 页 頃 項 順 須 領 頭 頩 頂
182
風 9 fēng wind 182 风 颱 飄 颿 颩 颪
183
飛 9 fēi fly 92 飞 飜 飝
184
食, (飠) 9 shí eat, food 403 饣 飯 飲 餓 餘 餐 養
185
首 9 shǒu head 20 馗 馘
186
香 9 xiāng fragrance 37 馨 馫
187
馬 10 mǎ horse 472 马 馮 馴 馳 駐 驚
188
骨 10 gǔ bone 185 骼 髒 髀 骿 骾
189
高, (髙) 10 gāo tall 34 髚 髛
190
髟 10 biāo long hair 243 髮 鬚 鬆 鬍 髦
191
鬥 10 dòu fight 23 鬧 鬪
192
鬯 10 chàng herbs, sacrificial wine 8 鬰 鬱
193
鬲 10 lì tripod, cauldron 73 鬶 鬷 鬸
194
鬼 10 guǐ ghost, demon 141 魂 魁 鬽 魄
195
魚 11 yú fish 571 鱼 鯉 鮑 魛 魜 魝 魞 魟 魠
196
鳥 11 niǎo bird 750 鸟 鳫 鳮 鳱 鳳 鳴 鳿 雞 鳴 鴻 鴛
197
鹵 11 lǔ salt 44 卤 鹹 鹼 鹽
198
鹿 11 lù deer 104 塵 麃 麋 麉 麟
199
麥 11 mài wheat 131 麦 麴 麵 麱 麨 麺
200
麻 11 má hemp, flax 34 麼 魔
201
黃 12 huáng yellow 42 黊 黌
202
黍 12 shǔ millet 46 黏 黎
203
黑 12 hēi black 172 點 黛 黱 黨
204
黹 12 zhǐ embroidery, needlework 8 黼 黻
205
黽 13 mǐn frog, amphibian 40 黾 鼈 黿 鼆
206
鼎 13 dǐng tripod 14 鼏 鼒
207
鼓 13 gǔ drum 46 鼗 鼘
208
鼠 13 shǔ rat, mouse 92 鼢 鼣 鼤
209
鼻 14 bí nose 49 鼼 鼽 鼿
210
齊 14 qí even, uniformly 18 齐 齋 齏 齏
211
齒 15 chǐ tooth, molar 162 齿 齡 齠 齗
212
龍 16 lóng dragon 14 龙 龖 龘
213
龜 16 guī turtle, tortoise 24 龟 龝
214
龠 17 yuè flute 19 龣 龤
Man'yōgana.
Japanese uses two phonetic writing systems, hiragana and katakana, which each consist of 46 characters, one for each mora (similar to a syllable). These are derived from Chinese characters used for their sound value, called man'yōgana.
For a given mora, some hiragana and katakana are cognate, deriving from the same Chinese character, while others derive from different Chinese characters, due to use of different Chinese characters to represent the same Japanese sound.
Kana deriving from the same character may look very similar, while in other cases they can be quite distinct, usually due to different style of writing, though sometimes because a different component was used (as in re: れ レ from 礼).
These similarities will generally not be a cause of significant confusion, due to their having the same pronunciation and different styles, but may be a useful mnemonic.
Of the 46 morae in modern Japanese kana, most (31, 67%) are derived from the same man'yōgana in both hiragana and katakana, while the remainder (15, 33%) are derived from different man'yōgana.
Alphabetical list
The below are listed: hiragana, katakana (man'yōgana), with non-cognates indented so as to stand out.
• a: あ ア (安, 阿)
• i: い イ (以, 伊)
• u: う ウ (宇)
• e: え エ (衣 江)
• o: お オ (於)
• ka: か カ (加)
• ki: き キ (機 幾)
• ku: く ク (久)
• ke: け ケ (計 介)
• ko: こ コ (己)
• sa: さ サ (左 散)
• shi: し シ (之)
• su: す ス (寸 須)
• se: せ セ (世)
• so: そ ソ (曽)
• ta: た タ (太 多)
• chi: ち チ (知 千)
• tsu: つ ツ (川)
• te: て テ (天)
• to: と ト (止)
• na: な ナ (奈)
• ni: に ニ (仁)
• nu: ぬ ヌ (奴)
• ne: ね ネ (祢)
• no: の ノ (乃)
• ha: は ハ (波 八)
• hi: ひ ヒ (比)
• fu: ふ フ (不)
• he: へ ヘ (部)
• ho: ほ ホ (保)
• ma: ま マ (末)
• mi: み ミ (美 三)
• mu: む ム (武 牟)
• me: め メ (女)
• mo: も モ (毛)
• ya: や ヤ (也)
• yu: ゆ ユ (由)
• yo: よ ヨ (与 與)
• ra: ら ラ (良)
• ri: り リ (利)
• ru: る ル (留 流)
• re: れ レ (礼)
• ro: ろ ロ (呂)
• wa: わ ワ (和)
• wo: を ヲ (遠 乎)
• n: ん ン (无 尓)
Similar kana
In some cases this yields very similar characters; subjectively:
• he: へ ヘ (部) – virtually identical
Quite similar:
• u: う ウ (宇)
• ka: か カ (加)
• se: せ セ (世)
• mo: も モ (毛)
• ri: り リ (利)
• ya: や ヤ (也)
What is the difference between a mora and a syllable?
Moras, counted as 1-paku, 2-haku, ... using haku (拍) or 1-on, 2-on, ... using on (音), are the rhythmic units of Japanese. A word combines moras to have a function in a phrase, and a morpheme is a combination of moras to have meaning in some context. The Japanese writing system of kana is based on moras, placing one kana on each mora, with some exceptions with 'softened consonants' like kya, known as yōon. See 7.7. What is yōon (youon)?
The difference between moras and syllables is:
• A long vowel is counted as 2 moras.
o Aa is one syllable, but two moras, a-a
o Ou is one syllable, but two moras, o-o
o Ei is one syllable, but two moras, e-e
• A syllabic n (ん) without a following vowel is counted as one mora, and these three are represented as a single n' mora (haneru oto). An is one syllable, but two moras, a-n'. Kankei "relationship" is two syllables, "kan" and "kei", but four moras, ka-n'-ke-e.
Readings
Because of the way they have been adopted into Japanese, a single kanji may be used to write one or more different words (or, in most cases, morphemes). From the point of view of the reader, kanji are said to have one or more different "readings". Deciding which reading is meant will depend on context, intended meaning, use in compounds, and even location in the sentence. Some common kanji have ten or more possible readings. These readings are normally categorized as either on'yomi (or on) or kun'yomi (or kun).
On'yomi (Chinese reading)
The on'yomi (音読み), the Sino-Japanese reading, is a Japanese approximation of the Chinese pronunciation of the character at the time it was introduced. Some kanji were introduced from different parts of China at different times, and so have multiple on'yomi, and often multiple meanings. Kanji invented in Japan would not normally be expected to have on'yomi, but there are exceptions, such as the character 働 "to work", which has the kun'yomi hataraku and the on'yomi dō, and 腺 "gland", which has only the on'yomi sen.
Generally, on'yomi are classified into four types:
• Go-on (呉音; literally "Wu sound") readings, from the pronunciation during the Southern and Northern Dynasties or Baekje (an ancient state on the Korean Peninsula), during the 5th and 6th centuries. Go means the Wu region (in the vicinity of modern Shanghai).
• Kan-on (漢音; literally "Han sound") readings, from the pronunciation during the Tang Dynasty in the 7th to 9th centuries, primarily from the standard speech of the capital, Chang'an (長安,长安).
• Tō-on (唐音；literally "Tang sound") readings, from the pronunciations of later dynasties, such as the Song (宋) and Ming (明), covers all readings adopted from the Heian era (平安) to the Edo period (江戸).
• Kan'yō-on (慣用音) readings, which are mistaken or changed readings of the kanji that have become accepted into the language.
Examples (rare readings in parentheses)
The most common form of readings is the kan-on one. The go-on readings are especially common in Buddhist terminology such as gokuraku 極楽 "paradise". The tō-on readings occur in some words such as isu 椅子 "chair" or futon 布団 "mattress".
In Chinese, most characters are associated with a single Chinese syllable. However, some homographs called 多音字 () such as 行 () (Japanese: kō, gyō) have more than one reading in Chinese representing different meanings, which is reflected in the carryover to Japanese as well. Additionally tonality aside, most Chinese syllables (especially in Middle Chinese, in which final stop consonants were more prevalent than in most modern dialects) did not fit the largely-CV (consonant-vowel) phonotactics of classical Japanese. Thus most on'yomi are composed of two moras (syllables or beats), the second of which is either a lengthening of the vowel in the first mora, or one of the syllables ku, ki, tsu, chi, or syllabic n, chosen for their approximation to the final consonants of Middle Chinese. In fact, palatalized consonants before vowels other than i, as well as syllabic n, were probably added to Japanese to better simulate Chinese; none of these features occur in words of native Japanese origin.
On'yomi primarily occur in multi-kanji compound words (熟語 jukugo), many of which are the result of the adoption (along with the kanji themselves) of Chinese words for concepts that either did not exist in Japanese or could not be articulated as elegantly using native words. This borrowing process is often compared to the English borrowings from Latin and Norman French, since Chinese-borrowed terms are often more specialized, or considered to sound more erudite or formal, than their native counterparts. The major exception to this rule is family names, in which the native kun'yomi reading is usually used (see below).
Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)
The kun'yomi (訓読み), Japanese reading, or native reading, is a reading based on the pronunciation of a native Japanese word, or yamatokotoba, that closely approximated the meaning of the Chinese character when it was introduced. As with on'yomi, there can be multiple kun readings for the same kanji, and some kanji have no kun'yomi at all.
For instance, the kanji for east, 東, has the on reading tō. However, Japanese already had two words for "east": higashi and azuma. Thus the kanji 東 had the latter readings added as kun'yomi. In contrast, the kanji 寸, denoting a Chinese unit of measurement (slightly over an inch), has no native Japanese equivalent; it only has an on'yomi, sun, with no native kun reading. Most Kokuji (Japanese-created Chinese characters) only have kun readings.
Kun'yomi are characterized by the strict (C)V syllable structure of yamatokotoba. Most noun or adjective kun'yomi are two to three syllables long, while verb kun'yomi are usually between one and three syllables in length, not counting trailing hiragana called okurigana. Okurigana are not considered to be part of the internal reading of the character, although they are part of the reading of the word. A beginner in the language will rarely come across characters with long readings, but three or even four syllables is not uncommon. 承る uketamawaru and 志 kokorozashi have five syllables represented by a single kanji, the longest readings of any kanji in the Jōyō character set.
In a number of cases, multiple kanji were assigned to cover a single Japanese word. Typically when this occurs, the different kanji refer to specific shades of meaning. For instance, the word なおす, naosu, when written 治す, means "to heal an illness or sickness". When written 直す it means "to fix or correct something". Sometimes the distinction is very clear, although not always. Differences of opinion among reference works is not uncommon; one dictionary may say the kanji are equivalent, while another dictionary may draw distinctions of use. As a result, native speakers of the language may have trouble knowing which kanji to use and resort to personal preference or by writing the word in hiragana. This latter strategy is frequently employed with more complex cases such as もと moto, which has at least five different kanji: 元, 基, 本, 下 and 素, three of which have only very subtle differences.
Local dialectical readings of kanji are also classed under Kun'yomi, most notably readings for words in Ryukyuan languages.
Other readings
There are many kanji compounds that use a mixture of on'yomi and kun'yomi, known as jūbako (重箱) or yutō (湯桶) words, which are themselves examples of this kind of compound: the first character of jūbako is read using on'yomi, the second kun'yomi, while it is the other way around with yutō. Other examples include 場所 basho "place" (kun-on), 金色 kin'iro "golden" (on-kun) and 合気道 aikidō "the martial art Aikido" (kun-on-on).
Some kanji also have lesser-known readings called nanori, which are mostly used for names (often given names), and are generally closely related to the kun'yomi. Place names sometimes also use nanori (or, occasionally, unique readings not found elsewhere).
Gikun (義訓) or Jukujikun (熟字訓) are readings of kanji combinations that have no direct correspondence to the characters' individual on'yomi or kun'yomi. For example, 今朝 ("this morning") is read neither as *ima'asa, the kun'yomi of the characters, nor *konchō, the on'yomi of the characters. Instead it is read as kesa—a native Japanese word with two syllables (which may be seen as a single morpheme, or as a fusion of kono (previously kefu), "this", and asa, "morning").
Many ateji (kanji used only for their phonetic value) have meanings derived from their usage: for example, the now-archaic 亜細亜 ajia was formerly used to write "Asia" in kanji; the character 亜 now means Asia in such compounds as 東亜 tōa, "East Asia". From the written 亜米利加 amerika, the second character was taken, resulting in the semi-formal coinage 米国 beikoku, which literally translates to "rice country" but means "United States of America".
Which to use when reading
Although there are general rules for when to use on'yomi and when to use kun'yomi, the language is littered with exceptions, and it is not always possible for even a native speaker to know how to read a character without prior knowledge. In general, kanji occurring in isolation, i.e. a character representing a single word unit, are typically read using their kun'yomi. They may be written with okurigana to mark the inflected ending of a verb or adjective, or by convention. For example: 月 tsuki "moon", 情け nasake "sympathy", 赤い akai "red", 新しい atarashii "new ", 見る miru "(to) see", 必ず kanarazu "invariably". Okurigana is an important aspect of kanji usage in Japanese; see that article for more information on kun'yomi orthography
Kanji occurring in compounds are generally read using on'yomi, called 熟語 jukugo in Japanese. For example, 情報 jōhō "information", 学校 gakkō "school", and 新幹線 shinkansen "bullet train" all follow this pattern. This isolated kanji and compound distinction gives words for similar concepts completely different pronunciations. 東 "east" and 北 "north" use the kun readings higashi and kita, being stand-alone characters, while 北東 "northeast", as a compound, uses the on reading hokutō. This is further complicated by the fact that many kanji have more than one on'yomi: 生 is read as sei in 先生 sensei "teacher" but as shō in 一生 isshō "one's whole life". Meaning can also be an important indicator of reading; 易 is read i when it means "simple", but as eki when it means "divination", both being on'yomi for this character.
Kun'yomi compound words are not as numerous as those with on'yomi, but neither are they rare. Examples include 手紙 tegami "letter", 日傘 higasa "parasol", and the famous 神風 kamikaze "divine wind". Such compounds may also have okurigana, such as 空揚げ (also written 唐揚げ) karaage "fried food" and 折り紙 origami, although many of these can also be written with the okurigana omitted (e.g. 空揚 or 折紙).
Similarly, some on'yomi characters can also be used as words in isolation: 愛 ai "love", 禅 Zen, 点 ten "mark, dot". Most of these cases involve kanji that have no kun'yomi, so there can be no confusion, although exceptions do occur. A lone 金 may be read as kin "gold" or as kane "money, metal"; only context can determine the writer's intended reading and meaning.
Multiple readings have given rise to a number of homographs, in some cases having different meanings depending on how they are read. One example is 上手, which can be read in three different ways: jōzu (skilled), uwate (upper part), or kamite (upper part). In addition, 上手い has the reading umai (skilled). Furigana is often used to clarify any potential ambiguities.
As stated above, 重箱 jūbako and 湯桶 yutō readings are also not uncommon. Indeed, all four combinations of reading are possible: on-on, kun-kun, kun-on and on-kun.
Some famous place names, including those of Tokyo (東京 Tōkyō) and Japan itself (日本 Nihon or sometimes Nippon) are read with on'yomi; however, the majority of Japanese place names are read with kun'yomi: 大阪 Ōsaka, 青森 Aomori, 箱根 Hakone. When characters are used as abbreviations of place names, their reading may not match that in the original. The Osaka (大阪) and Kobe (神戸) baseball team, the Hanshin (阪神) Tigers, take their name from the on'yomi of the second kanji of Ōsaka and the first of Kōbe. The name of the Keisei (京成) railway line, linking Tokyo (東京) and Narita (成田) is formed similarly, although the reading of 京 from 東京 is kei, despite kyō already being an on'yomi in the word Tōkyō.
Family names are also usually read with kun'yomi: 山田 Yamada, 田中 Tanaka, 鈴木 Suzuki. Given names, although they are not typically considered jūbako or yutō, often contain mixtures of kun'yomi, on'yomi and nanori: 大助 Daisuke [on-kun], 夏美 Natsumi [kun-on]. Being chosen at the discretion of the parents, the readings of given names do not follow any set rules and it is impossible to know with certainty how to read a person's name without independent verification. Parents can be quite creative, and rumours abound of children called 地球 Āsu and 天使 Enjeru, quite literally "Earth" and "Angel"; neither are common names, and have normal readings chikyū and tenshi respectively. Common patterns do exist, however, allowing experienced readers to make a good guess for most names.
Pronunciation assistance
Because of the ambiguities involved, kanji sometimes have their pronunciation for the given context spelled out in ruby characters known as furigana (small kana written above or to the right of the character) or kumimoji (small kana written in-line after the character). This is especially true in texts for children or foreign learners and manga (comics). It is also used in newspapers for rare or unusual readings and for characters not included in the officially recognized set of essential kanji (see below).
Total number of kanji
The number of possible characters is disputed. The "Daikanwa Jiten" contains about 50,000 characters, and this was thought to be comprehensive, but more recent mainland Chinese dictionaries contain 80,000 or more characters, many consisting of obscure variants. Most of these are not in common use in either Japan or China.
Orthographic reform and lists of kanji
main Japanese script reform In 1946, following World War II, the Japanese government instituted a series of orthographic reforms. Some characters were given simplified glyphs, called 新字体 (shinjitai). The number of characters in circulation was reduced, and formal lists of characters to be learned during each grade of school were established. Many variant forms of characters and obscure alternatives for common characters were officially discouraged. This was done with the goal of facilitating learning for children and simplifying kanji use in literature and periodicals. These are simply guidelines, so many characters outside these standards are still widely known and commonly used.
Kyōiku kanji
The Kyōiku kanji 教育漢字 ("education kanji") are 1006 characters that Japanese children learn in elementary school. The number was 881 until 1981. The grade-level breakdown of the education kanji is known as the Gakunen-betsu kanji haitōhyō (学年別漢字配当表), or the gakushū kanji.
Jōyō kanji
The Jōyō kanji 常用漢字 are 1,945 characters consisting of all the kyōiku kanji, plus an additional 939 kanji taught in junior high and high school. In publishing, characters outside this category are often given furigana. The Jōyō kanji were introduced in 1981. They replaced an older list of 1850 characters known as the General-use kanji (tōyō kanji 当用漢字) introduced in 1946. The Japanese National Kanji Conference will add 11 new characters to the list, totaling 1956, to be enforced by 2010. These new characters are used to write prefecture names and were previously not included in the Jōyō kanji: 阪,熊,奈,岡,鹿,梨,阜,埼,茨,栃 and 媛。
Jinmeiyō kanji
The Jinmeiyō kanji 人名用漢字 are 2,928 characters consisting of the Jōyō kanji, plus an additional 983 kanji found in people's names. Over the years, the Minister of Justice has on several occasions added to this list. Sometimes the phrase Jinmeiyō kanji refers to all 2928, and sometimes it only refers to the 983 that are only used for names.
Japanese Industrial Standards for kanji
The Japanese Industrial Standards for kanji and kana define character code-points for each kanji and kana, as well as other forms of writing such as the Latin alphabet, Cyrillic alphabet, Greek alphabet, Hindu-Arabic numerals, etc. for use in information processing. They have had numerous revisions. The current standards are:
• href="http://www.io.com/~kazushi/encoding/jis.html#kanji90">http://www.io.com/~kazushi/encoding/jis.html#kanji90 JIS X 0208:1997, the most recent version of the main standard. It has 6,355 kanji.
• href="http://www.io.com/~kazushi/encoding/jis.html#kanjisup">http://www.io.com/~kazushi/encoding/jis.html#kanjisup JIS X 0212:1990, a supplementary standard containing a further 5,801 kanji. This standard is rarely used, mainly because the common Shift JIS encoding system could not use it. This standard is effectively obsolete;
• href="http://www.io.com/~kazushi/encoding/jis.html#kanji00">http://www.io.com/~kazushi/encoding/jis.html#kanji00 JIS X 0213:2000, a further revision which extended the JIS X 0208 set with 3,625 additional kanji, of which 2,741 were in JIS X 0212. The standard is in part designed to be compatible with Shift JIS encoding;
• JIS X 0221:1995, the Japanese version of the ISO 10646/Unicode standard.
Gaiji
Gaiji (外字), literally meaning "external characters", are kanji that are not represented in existing Japanese encoding systems. These include variant forms of common kanji that need to be represented alongside the more conventional glyph in reference works, and can include non-kanji symbols as well.
Gaiji can be either user-defined characters or system-specific characters. Both are a problem for information interchange, as the codepoint used to represent an external character will not be consistent from one computer or operating system to another.
Gaiji were nominally prohibited in JIS X 0208-1997, and JIS X 0213-2000 used the range of code-points previously allocated to gaiji, making them completely unusable. Nevertheless, they persist today with NTT DoCoMo's "i-mode" service, where they are used for emoji (pictorial characters).
Unicode allows for optional encoding of gaiji in private use areas. Adobe's SING (Smart INdependent Glyphlets) technology allows the creation of customized gaiji.
Types of Kanji: by Category
main Chinese character classification
A Chinese scholar Xu Shen (許慎), in the Shuōwén Jiězì (說文解字) ca. 100 CE, classified Chinese characters into six categories (Japanese: 六書 rikusho). The traditional classification is still taught but is problematic and no longer the focus of modern lexicographic practice, as some categories are not clearly defined, nor are they mutually exclusive: the first four refer to structural composition, while the last two refer to usage.
(For a table of all the kyōiku kanji (教育漢字) broken down by category see this page, from which the above description has been extracted.)
Shōkei-moji (象形文字)
These characters are sketches of the object they represent. For example, 目 is an eye, 木 is a tree, etc. The current forms of the characters are very different from the original, and it is now hard to see the origin in many of these characters. It is somewhat easier to see in seal script. This kind of character is often called a "pictograph" in English (Shōkei -- 象形 is also the Japanese word for Egyptian hieroglyphs). These make up a small fraction of modern characters.
Shiji-moji (指事文字)
Shiji-moji are called "logograms", "simple ideographs", "simple indicatives", and sometimes just "symbols" in English. They are usually graphically simple and represent an abstract concept such as a direction: e.g. 上 representing "up" or "above" and 下 representing "down" or "below". These make up a tiny fraction of modern characters.
Kaii-moji (会意文字)
Often called "compound indicatives", "associative compounds", "compound ideographs", or just "ideographs". These are usually a combination of pictographs that combine to present an overall meaning. An example is the kokuji 峠 (mountain pass) made from 山 (mountain), 上 (up) and 下 (down). Another is 休 (rest) from 人 (person) and 木 (tree). These make up a tiny fraction of modern characters.
Keisei-moji (形声文字)
These are called "phono-semantic", "semantic-phonetic", "semasio-phonetic" or "phonetic-ideographic" characters in English. They are by far the largest category, making up about 90% of characters. Typically they are made up of two components, one of which indicates the meaning or semantic context, and the other the pronunciation. (The pronunciation really relates to the original Chinese, and may now only be distantly detectable in the modern Japanese on'yomi of the kanji. The same is true of the semantic context, which may have changed over the centuries or in the transition from Chinese to Japanese. As a result, it is a common error in folk etymology to fail to recognize a phono-semantic compound, typically instead inventing a compound-indicative explanation.)
As examples of this, consider the kanji with the 言 shape: 語, 記, 訳, 説, etc. All are related to word/language/meaning. Similarly kanji with the 雨 (rain) shape (雲, 電, 雷, 雪, 霜, etc.) are almost invariably related to weather. Kanji with the 寺 (temple) shape on the right (詩, 持, 時, 侍, etc.) usually have an on'yomi of "shi" or "ji". Sometimes one can guess the meaning and/or reading simply from the components. However, exceptions do exist -- for example, neither 需 nor 霊 have anything to do with weather (at least in their modern usage), and 待 has an on'yomi of "tai". That is, a component may play a semantic role in one compound, but a phonetic role in another.
Tenchū-moji (転注文字)
This group have variously been called "derivative characters", or "mutually explanatory" or "mutually synonymous" characters; this is the most problematic of the six categories, as it is vaguely defined. It may refer to kanji where the meaning or application has become extended. For example, 楽 is used for 'music' and 'comfort, ease', with different pronunciations in Chinese reflected in the two different on'yomi, gaku 'music' and raku 'pleasure'.
Kashaku-moji (仮借文字)
These are called "phonetic loan characters". The etymology of the characters always follows one of the pattern above, but the present-day meaning is completely unrelated this. A character was appropriated to represent a similar sounding word. For example, 来 in ancient Chinese was originally a pictograph for 'wheat'. Its syllable was homophonous with the verb meaning 'to come' and the character is used for that verb as a result, without any embellishing 'meaning' element attached. Interestingly, the character for wheat 麦, originally meant 'to come', being a Keisei-moji having 'foot' at the bottom for its meaning part and 'wheat' at the top for sound. The two characters swapped meaning, so today the more common word has the simpler character. This borrowing of sounds has a very long history. 東 'east' is a pictograph of a bag on a stick, but it was used to mean 'east' very early in the history of the Chinese written language; not one example of it meaning 'bag on a stick' has survived.
Related symbols
The iteration mark (々) is used to indicate that the preceding kanji is to be repeated, functioning similarly to a ditto mark in English. It is pronounced as though the kanji were written twice in a row, for example 色々 (iroiro "various") and 時々 (tokidoki "sometimes"). This mark also appears in personal and place names, as in the surname Sasaki (佐々木). This symbol is a simplified version of the kanji 仝 (variant of 同 dō "same").
Another frequently used symbol is ヶ (a small katakana "ke"), pronounced "ka" when used to indicate quantity (such as 六ヶ月, rokkagetsu "six months") or "ga" in place names like Kasumigaseki (霞ヶ関). This symbol is a simplified version of the kanji 箇.
Radical-and-stroke sorting (Alphabetization)
Kanji, whose thousands of symbols defy ordering by convention such as is used with the Roman Alphabet, uses radical-and-stroke sorting to order a list of Kanji words. In this system, common components of characters are identified; these are called radicals in Chinese and logographic systems derived from Chinese, such as Kanji.
Characters are then grouped by their primary radical, then ordered by number of pen strokes within radicals. When there is no obvious radical or more than one radical, convention governs which is used for collation. For example, the Chinese character for "mother" (媽) is sorted as a thirteen-stroke character under the three-stroke primary radical (女) meaning "woman".
Kanji education
Japanese schoolchildren are expected to learn 1006 basic kanji characters, the kyōiku kanji, before finishing the sixth grade. The order in which these characters are learned is fixed. The kyōiku kanji list is a subset of a larger list of 1945 kanji characters known as the jōyō kanji, characters required for the level of fluency necessary to read newspapers and literature in Japanese. This larger list of characters is to be mastered by the end of the ninth grade. Schoolchildren learn the characters by repetition and radical.
Students studying Japanese as a foreign language are often required to acquire kanji without having first learned the vocabulary associated with them. Strategies for these learners vary from copying-based methods to mnemonic-based methods such as those used in James Heisig's series Remembering the Kanji. Other textbooks use methods based on the etymology of the characters, such as Mathias and Habein's The Complete Guide to Everyday Kanji and Henshall's A Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters. Pictorial mnemonics, as in the text Kanji Pict-o-graphix, are also seen.
The Japanese government provides the Kanji kentei (日本漢字能力検定試験 Nihon kanji nōryoku kentei shiken; "Test of Japanese Kanji Aptitude") which tests the ability to read and write kanji. The highest level of the Kanji kentei tests about 6000 kanji.
• Double consonants (sokuon) are counted as 1 mora (tsumaru oto). Thus, for example, oppai "breasts" is two syllables, "op"-"pai" but four moras, o-(p waiting)-pa-i, and ippai is two syllables, "ip"-"pai" but four moras, i-(p waiting)-pa-i.
• The Japanese phonetical system doesn't have any consonant teminated moras except n'. They do exist in practice, like the ending -des' for desu, but we consider it to have (neutral or half) vowel of /u/, and t', d' are considered to be /to/, /do/, respectively.
In changing English words to Japanese, for example 'trumpet' is pronounced torampetto. The moras are to-ra-n'-pe-(sokuon)-to, which makes six, although the original has two syllables, trum-pet.
Japanese uses two phonetic writing systems, hiragana and katakana, which each consist of 46 characters, one for each mora (similar to a syllable). These are derived from Chinese characters used for their sound value, called man'yōgana.
For a given mora, some hiragana and katakana are cognate, deriving from the same Chinese character, while others derive from different Chinese characters, due to use of different Chinese characters to represent the same Japanese sound.
Kana deriving from the same character may look very similar, while in other cases they can be quite distinct, usually due to different style of writing, though sometimes because a different component was used (as in re: れ レ from 礼).
These similarities will generally not be a cause of significant confusion, due to their having the same pronunciation and different styles, but may be a useful mnemonic.
Of the 46 morae in modern Japanese kana, most (31, 67%) are derived from the same man'yōgana in both hiragana and katakana, while the remainder (15, 33%) are derived from different man'yōgana.
Alphabetical list
The below are listed: hiragana, katakana (man'yōgana), with non-cognates indented so as to stand out.
• a: あ ア (安, 阿)
• i: い イ (以, 伊)
• u: う ウ (宇)
• e: え エ (衣 江)
• o: お オ (於)
• ka: か カ (加)
• ki: き キ (機 幾)
• ku: く ク (久)
• ke: け ケ (計 介)
• ko: こ コ (己)
• sa: さ サ (左 散)
• shi: し シ (之)
• su: す ス (寸 須)
• se: せ セ (世)
• so: そ ソ (曽)
• ta: た タ (太 多)
• chi: ち チ (知 千)
• tsu: つ ツ (川)
• te: て テ (天)
• to: と ト (止)
• na: な ナ (奈)
• ni: に ニ (仁)
• nu: ぬ ヌ (奴)
• ne: ね ネ (祢)
• no: の ノ (乃)
• ha: は ハ (波 八)
• hi: ひ ヒ (比)
• fu: ふ フ (不)
• he: へ ヘ (部)
• ho: ほ ホ (保)
• ma: ま マ (末)
• mi: み ミ (美 三)
• mu: む ム (武 牟)
• me: め メ (女)
• mo: も モ (毛)
• ya: や ヤ (也)
• yu: ゆ ユ (由)
• yo: よ ヨ (与 與)
• ra: ら ラ (良)
• ri: り リ (利)
• ru: る ル (留 流)
• re: れ レ (礼)
• ro: ろ ロ (呂)
• wa: わ ワ (和)
• wo: を ヲ (遠 乎)
• n: ん ン (无 尓)
Similar kana
In some cases this yields very similar characters; subjectively:
• he: へ ヘ (部) – virtually identical
Quite similar:
• u: う ウ (宇)
• ka: か カ (加)
• se: せ セ (世)
• mo: も モ (毛)
• ri: り リ (利)
• ya: や ヤ (也)
What is the difference between a mora and a syllable?
Moras, counted as 1-paku, 2-haku, ... using haku (拍) or 1-on, 2-on, ... using on (音), are the rhythmic units of Japanese. A word combines moras to have a function in a phrase, and a morpheme is a combination of moras to have meaning in some context. The Japanese writing system of kana is based on moras, placing one kana on each mora, with some exceptions with 'softened consonants' like kya, known as yōon. See 7.7. What is yōon (youon)?
The difference between moras and syllables is:
• A long vowel is counted as 2 moras.
o Aa is one syllable, but two moras, a-a
o Ou is one syllable, but two moras, o-o
o Ei is one syllable, but two moras, e-e
• A syllabic n (ん) without a following vowel is counted as one mora, and these three are represented as a single n' mora (haneru oto). An is one syllable, but two moras, a-n'. Kankei "relationship" is two syllables, "kan" and "kei", but four moras, ka-n'-ke-e.
Readings
Because of the way they have been adopted into Japanese, a single kanji may be used to write one or more different words (or, in most cases, morphemes). From the point of view of the reader, kanji are said to have one or more different "readings". Deciding which reading is meant will depend on context, intended meaning, use in compounds, and even location in the sentence. Some common kanji have ten or more possible readings. These readings are normally categorized as either on'yomi (or on) or kun'yomi (or kun).
On'yomi (Chinese reading)
The on'yomi (音読み), the Sino-Japanese reading, is a Japanese approximation of the Chinese pronunciation of the character at the time it was introduced. Some kanji were introduced from different parts of China at different times, and so have multiple on'yomi, and often multiple meanings. Kanji invented in Japan would not normally be expected to have on'yomi, but there are exceptions, such as the character 働 "to work", which has the kun'yomi hataraku and the on'yomi dō, and 腺 "gland", which has only the on'yomi sen.
Generally, on'yomi are classified into four types:
• Go-on (呉音; literally "Wu sound") readings, from the pronunciation during the Southern and Northern Dynasties or Baekje (an ancient state on the Korean Peninsula), during the 5th and 6th centuries. Go means the Wu region (in the vicinity of modern Shanghai).
• Kan-on (漢音; literally "Han sound") readings, from the pronunciation during the Tang Dynasty in the 7th to 9th centuries, primarily from the standard speech of the capital, Chang'an (長安,长安).
• Tō-on (唐音；literally "Tang sound") readings, from the pronunciations of later dynasties, such as the Song (宋) and Ming (明), covers all readings adopted from the Heian era (平安) to the Edo period (江戸).
• Kan'yō-on (慣用音) readings, which are mistaken or changed readings of the kanji that have become accepted into the language.
Examples (rare readings in parentheses)
The most common form of readings is the kan-on one. The go-on readings are especially common in Buddhist terminology such as gokuraku 極楽 "paradise". The tō-on readings occur in some words such as isu 椅子 "chair" or futon 布団 "mattress".
In Chinese, most characters are associated with a single Chinese syllable. However, some homographs called 多音字 () such as 行 () (Japanese: kō, gyō) have more than one reading in Chinese representing different meanings, which is reflected in the carryover to Japanese as well. Additionally tonality aside, most Chinese syllables (especially in Middle Chinese, in which final stop consonants were more prevalent than in most modern dialects) did not fit the largely-CV (consonant-vowel) phonotactics of classical Japanese. Thus most on'yomi are composed of two moras (syllables or beats), the second of which is either a lengthening of the vowel in the first mora, or one of the syllables ku, ki, tsu, chi, or syllabic n, chosen for their approximation to the final consonants of Middle Chinese. In fact, palatalized consonants before vowels other than i, as well as syllabic n, were probably added to Japanese to better simulate Chinese; none of these features occur in words of native Japanese origin.
On'yomi primarily occur in multi-kanji compound words (熟語 jukugo), many of which are the result of the adoption (along with the kanji themselves) of Chinese words for concepts that either did not exist in Japanese or could not be articulated as elegantly using native words. This borrowing process is often compared to the English borrowings from Latin and Norman French, since Chinese-borrowed terms are often more specialized, or considered to sound more erudite or formal, than their native counterparts. The major exception to this rule is family names, in which the native kun'yomi reading is usually used (see below).
Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)
The kun'yomi (訓読み), Japanese reading, or native reading, is a reading based on the pronunciation of a native Japanese word, or yamatokotoba, that closely approximated the meaning of the Chinese character when it was introduced. As with on'yomi, there can be multiple kun readings for the same kanji, and some kanji have no kun'yomi at all.
For instance, the kanji for east, 東, has the on reading tō. However, Japanese already had two words for "east": higashi and azuma. Thus the kanji 東 had the latter readings added as kun'yomi. In contrast, the kanji 寸, denoting a Chinese unit of measurement (slightly over an inch), has no native Japanese equivalent; it only has an on'yomi, sun, with no native kun reading. Most Kokuji (Japanese-created Chinese characters) only have kun readings.
Kun'yomi are characterized by the strict (C)V syllable structure of yamatokotoba. Most noun or adjective kun'yomi are two to three syllables long, while verb kun'yomi are usually between one and three syllables in length, not counting trailing hiragana called okurigana. Okurigana are not considered to be part of the internal reading of the character, although they are part of the reading of the word. A beginner in the language will rarely come across characters with long readings, but three or even four syllables is not uncommon. 承る uketamawaru and 志 kokorozashi have five syllables represented by a single kanji, the longest readings of any kanji in the Jōyō character set.
In a number of cases, multiple kanji were assigned to cover a single Japanese word. Typically when this occurs, the different kanji refer to specific shades of meaning. For instance, the word なおす, naosu, when written 治す, means "to heal an illness or sickness". When written 直す it means "to fix or correct something". Sometimes the distinction is very clear, although not always. Differences of opinion among reference works is not uncommon; one dictionary may say the kanji are equivalent, while another dictionary may draw distinctions of use. As a result, native speakers of the language may have trouble knowing which kanji to use and resort to personal preference or by writing the word in hiragana. This latter strategy is frequently employed with more complex cases such as もと moto, which has at least five different kanji: 元, 基, 本, 下 and 素, three of which have only very subtle differences.
Local dialectical readings of kanji are also classed under Kun'yomi, most notably readings for words in Ryukyuan languages.
Other readings
There are many kanji compounds that use a mixture of on'yomi and kun'yomi, known as jūbako (重箱) or yutō (湯桶) words, which are themselves examples of this kind of compound: the first character of jūbako is read using on'yomi, the second kun'yomi, while it is the other way around with yutō. Other examples include 場所 basho "place" (kun-on), 金色 kin'iro "golden" (on-kun) and 合気道 aikidō "the martial art Aikido" (kun-on-on).
Some kanji also have lesser-known readings called nanori, which are mostly used for names (often given names), and are generally closely related to the kun'yomi. Place names sometimes also use nanori (or, occasionally, unique readings not found elsewhere).
Gikun (義訓) or Jukujikun (熟字訓) are readings of kanji combinations that have no direct correspondence to the characters' individual on'yomi or kun'yomi. For example, 今朝 ("this morning") is read neither as *ima'asa, the kun'yomi of the characters, nor *konchō, the on'yomi of the characters. Instead it is read as kesa—a native Japanese word with two syllables (which may be seen as a single morpheme, or as a fusion of kono (previously kefu), "this", and asa, "morning").
Many ateji (kanji used only for their phonetic value) have meanings derived from their usage: for example, the now-archaic 亜細亜 ajia was formerly used to write "Asia" in kanji; the character 亜 now means Asia in such compounds as 東亜 tōa, "East Asia". From the written 亜米利加 amerika, the second character was taken, resulting in the semi-formal coinage 米国 beikoku, which literally translates to "rice country" but means "United States of America".
Which to use when reading
Although there are general rules for when to use on'yomi and when to use kun'yomi, the language is littered with exceptions, and it is not always possible for even a native speaker to know how to read a character without prior knowledge. In general, kanji occurring in isolation, i.e. a character representing a single word unit, are typically read using their kun'yomi. They may be written with okurigana to mark the inflected ending of a verb or adjective, or by convention. For example: 月 tsuki "moon", 情け nasake "sympathy", 赤い akai "red", 新しい atarashii "new ", 見る miru "(to) see", 必ず kanarazu "invariably". Okurigana is an important aspect of kanji usage in Japanese; see that article for more information on kun'yomi orthography
Kanji occurring in compounds are generally read using on'yomi, called 熟語 jukugo in Japanese. For example, 情報 jōhō "information", 学校 gakkō "school", and 新幹線 shinkansen "bullet train" all follow this pattern. This isolated kanji and compound distinction gives words for similar concepts completely different pronunciations. 東 "east" and 北 "north" use the kun readings higashi and kita, being stand-alone characters, while 北東 "northeast", as a compound, uses the on reading hokutō. This is further complicated by the fact that many kanji have more than one on'yomi: 生 is read as sei in 先生 sensei "teacher" but as shō in 一生 isshō "one's whole life". Meaning can also be an important indicator of reading; 易 is read i when it means "simple", but as eki when it means "divination", both being on'yomi for this character.
Kun'yomi compound words are not as numerous as those with on'yomi, but neither are they rare. Examples include 手紙 tegami "letter", 日傘 higasa "parasol", and the famous 神風 kamikaze "divine wind". Such compounds may also have okurigana, such as 空揚げ (also written 唐揚げ) karaage "fried food" and 折り紙 origami, although many of these can also be written with the okurigana omitted (e.g. 空揚 or 折紙).
Similarly, some on'yomi characters can also be used as words in isolation: 愛 ai "love", 禅 Zen, 点 ten "mark, dot". Most of these cases involve kanji that have no kun'yomi, so there can be no confusion, although exceptions do occur. A lone 金 may be read as kin "gold" or as kane "money, metal"; only context can determine the writer's intended reading and meaning.
Multiple readings have given rise to a number of homographs, in some cases having different meanings depending on how they are read. One example is 上手, which can be read in three different ways: jōzu (skilled), uwate (upper part), or kamite (upper part). In addition, 上手い has the reading umai (skilled). Furigana is often used to clarify any potential ambiguities.
As stated above, 重箱 jūbako and 湯桶 yutō readings are also not uncommon. Indeed, all four combinations of reading are possible: on-on, kun-kun, kun-on and on-kun.
Some famous place names, including those of Tokyo (東京 Tōkyō) and Japan itself (日本 Nihon or sometimes Nippon) are read with on'yomi; however, the majority of Japanese place names are read with kun'yomi: 大阪 Ōsaka, 青森 Aomori, 箱根 Hakone. When characters are used as abbreviations of place names, their reading may not match that in the original. The Osaka (大阪) and Kobe (神戸) baseball team, the Hanshin (阪神) Tigers, take their name from the on'yomi of the second kanji of Ōsaka and the first of Kōbe. The name of the Keisei (京成) railway line, linking Tokyo (東京) and Narita (成田) is formed similarly, although the reading of 京 from 東京 is kei, despite kyō already being an on'yomi in the word Tōkyō.
Family names are also usually read with kun'yomi: 山田 Yamada, 田中 Tanaka, 鈴木 Suzuki. Given names, although they are not typically considered jūbako or yutō, often contain mixtures of kun'yomi, on'yomi and nanori: 大助 Daisuke [on-kun], 夏美 Natsumi [kun-on]. Being chosen at the discretion of the parents, the readings of given names do not follow any set rules and it is impossible to know with certainty how to read a person's name without independent verification. Parents can be quite creative, and rumours abound of children called 地球 Āsu and 天使 Enjeru, quite literally "Earth" and "Angel"; neither are common names, and have normal readings chikyū and tenshi respectively. Common patterns do exist, however, allowing experienced readers to make a good guess for most names.
Pronunciation assistance
Because of the ambiguities involved, kanji sometimes have their pronunciation for the given context spelled out in ruby characters known as furigana (small kana written above or to the right of the character) or kumimoji (small kana written in-line after the character). This is especially true in texts for children or foreign learners and manga (comics). It is also used in newspapers for rare or unusual readings and for characters not included in the officially recognized set of essential kanji (see below).
Total number of kanji
The number of possible characters is disputed. The "Daikanwa Jiten" contains about 50,000 characters, and this was thought to be comprehensive, but more recent mainland Chinese dictionaries contain 80,000 or more characters, many consisting of obscure variants. Most of these are not in common use in either Japan or China.
Orthographic reform and lists of kanji
main Japanese script reform In 1946, following World War II, the Japanese government instituted a series of orthographic reforms. Some characters were given simplified glyphs, called 新字体 (shinjitai). The number of characters in circulation was reduced, and formal lists of characters to be learned during each grade of school were established. Many variant forms of characters and obscure alternatives for common characters were officially discouraged. This was done with the goal of facilitating learning for children and simplifying kanji use in literature and periodicals. These are simply guidelines, so many characters outside these standards are still widely known and commonly used.
Kyōiku kanji
The Kyōiku kanji 教育漢字 ("education kanji") are 1006 characters that Japanese children learn in elementary school. The number was 881 until 1981. The grade-level breakdown of the education kanji is known as the Gakunen-betsu kanji haitōhyō (学年別漢字配当表), or the gakushū kanji.
Jōyō kanji
The Jōyō kanji 常用漢字 are 1,945 characters consisting of all the kyōiku kanji, plus an additional 939 kanji taught in junior high and high school. In publishing, characters outside this category are often given furigana. The Jōyō kanji were introduced in 1981. They replaced an older list of 1850 characters known as the General-use kanji (tōyō kanji 当用漢字) introduced in 1946. The Japanese National Kanji Conference will add 11 new characters to the list, totaling 1956, to be enforced by 2010. These new characters are used to write prefecture names and were previously not included in the Jōyō kanji: 阪,熊,奈,岡,鹿,梨,阜,埼,茨,栃 and 媛。
Jinmeiyō kanji
The Jinmeiyō kanji 人名用漢字 are 2,928 characters consisting of the Jōyō kanji, plus an additional 983 kanji found in people's names. Over the years, the Minister of Justice has on several occasions added to this list. Sometimes the phrase Jinmeiyō kanji refers to all 2928, and sometimes it only refers to the 983 that are only used for names.
Japanese Industrial Standards for kanji
The Japanese Industrial Standards for kanji and kana define character code-points for each kanji and kana, as well as other forms of writing such as the Latin alphabet, Cyrillic alphabet, Greek alphabet, Hindu-Arabic numerals, etc. for use in information processing. They have had numerous revisions. The current standards are:
• href="http://www.io.com/~kazushi/encoding/jis.html#kanji90">http://www.io.com/~kazushi/encoding/jis.html#kanji90 JIS X 0208:1997, the most recent version of the main standard. It has 6,355 kanji.
• href="http://www.io.com/~kazushi/encoding/jis.html#kanjisup">http://www.io.com/~kazushi/encoding/jis.html#kanjisup JIS X 0212:1990, a supplementary standard containing a further 5,801 kanji. This standard is rarely used, mainly because the common Shift JIS encoding system could not use it. This standard is effectively obsolete;
• href="http://www.io.com/~kazushi/encoding/jis.html#kanji00">http://www.io.com/~kazushi/encoding/jis.html#kanji00 JIS X 0213:2000, a further revision which extended the JIS X 0208 set with 3,625 additional kanji, of which 2,741 were in JIS X 0212. The standard is in part designed to be compatible with Shift JIS encoding;
• JIS X 0221:1995, the Japanese version of the ISO 10646/Unicode standard.
Gaiji
Gaiji (外字), literally meaning "external characters", are kanji that are not represented in existing Japanese encoding systems. These include variant forms of common kanji that need to be represented alongside the more conventional glyph in reference works, and can include non-kanji symbols as well.
Gaiji can be either user-defined characters or system-specific characters. Both are a problem for information interchange, as the codepoint used to represent an external character will not be consistent from one computer or operating system to another.
Gaiji were nominally prohibited in JIS X 0208-1997, and JIS X 0213-2000 used the range of code-points previously allocated to gaiji, making them completely unusable. Nevertheless, they persist today with NTT DoCoMo's "i-mode" service, where they are used for emoji (pictorial characters).
Unicode allows for optional encoding of gaiji in private use areas. Adobe's SING (Smart INdependent Glyphlets) technology allows the creation of customized gaiji.
Types of Kanji: by Category
main Chinese character classification
A Chinese scholar Xu Shen (許慎), in the Shuōwén Jiězì (說文解字) ca. 100 CE, classified Chinese characters into six categories (Japanese: 六書 rikusho). The traditional classification is still taught but is problematic and no longer the focus of modern lexicographic practice, as some categories are not clearly defined, nor are they mutually exclusive: the first four refer to structural composition, while the last two refer to usage.
(For a table of all the kyōiku kanji (教育漢字) broken down by category see this page, from which the above description has been extracted.)
Shōkei-moji (象形文字)
These characters are sketches of the object they represent. For example, 目 is an eye, 木 is a tree, etc. The current forms of the characters are very different from the original, and it is now hard to see the origin in many of these characters. It is somewhat easier to see in seal script. This kind of character is often called a "pictograph" in English (Shōkei -- 象形 is also the Japanese word for Egyptian hieroglyphs). These make up a small fraction of modern characters.
Shiji-moji (指事文字)
Shiji-moji are called "logograms", "simple ideographs", "simple indicatives", and sometimes just "symbols" in English. They are usually graphically simple and represent an abstract concept such as a direction: e.g. 上 representing "up" or "above" and 下 representing "down" or "below". These make up a tiny fraction of modern characters.
Kaii-moji (会意文字)
Often called "compound indicatives", "associative compounds", "compound ideographs", or just "ideographs". These are usually a combination of pictographs that combine to present an overall meaning. An example is the kokuji 峠 (mountain pass) made from 山 (mountain), 上 (up) and 下 (down). Another is 休 (rest) from 人 (person) and 木 (tree). These make up a tiny fraction of modern characters.
Keisei-moji (形声文字)
These are called "phono-semantic", "semantic-phonetic", "semasio-phonetic" or "phonetic-ideographic" characters in English. They are by far the largest category, making up about 90% of characters. Typically they are made up of two components, one of which indicates the meaning or semantic context, and the other the pronunciation. (The pronunciation really relates to the original Chinese, and may now only be distantly detectable in the modern Japanese on'yomi of the kanji. The same is true of the semantic context, which may have changed over the centuries or in the transition from Chinese to Japanese. As a result, it is a common error in folk etymology to fail to recognize a phono-semantic compound, typically instead inventing a compound-indicative explanation.)
As examples of this, consider the kanji with the 言 shape: 語, 記, 訳, 説, etc. All are related to word/language/meaning. Similarly kanji with the 雨 (rain) shape (雲, 電, 雷, 雪, 霜, etc.) are almost invariably related to weather. Kanji with the 寺 (temple) shape on the right (詩, 持, 時, 侍, etc.) usually have an on'yomi of "shi" or "ji". Sometimes one can guess the meaning and/or reading simply from the components. However, exceptions do exist -- for example, neither 需 nor 霊 have anything to do with weather (at least in their modern usage), and 待 has an on'yomi of "tai". That is, a component may play a semantic role in one compound, but a phonetic role in another.
Tenchū-moji (転注文字)
This group have variously been called "derivative characters", or "mutually explanatory" or "mutually synonymous" characters; this is the most problematic of the six categories, as it is vaguely defined. It may refer to kanji where the meaning or application has become extended. For example, 楽 is used for 'music' and 'comfort, ease', with different pronunciations in Chinese reflected in the two different on'yomi, gaku 'music' and raku 'pleasure'.
Kashaku-moji (仮借文字)
These are called "phonetic loan characters". The etymology of the characters always follows one of the pattern above, but the present-day meaning is completely unrelated this. A character was appropriated to represent a similar sounding word. For example, 来 in ancient Chinese was originally a pictograph for 'wheat'. Its syllable was homophonous with the verb meaning 'to come' and the character is used for that verb as a result, without any embellishing 'meaning' element attached. Interestingly, the character for wheat 麦, originally meant 'to come', being a Keisei-moji having 'foot' at the bottom for its meaning part and 'wheat' at the top for sound. The two characters swapped meaning, so today the more common word has the simpler character. This borrowing of sounds has a very long history. 東 'east' is a pictograph of a bag on a stick, but it was used to mean 'east' very early in the history of the Chinese written language; not one example of it meaning 'bag on a stick' has survived.
Related symbols
The iteration mark (々) is used to indicate that the preceding kanji is to be repeated, functioning similarly to a ditto mark in English. It is pronounced as though the kanji were written twice in a row, for example 色々 (iroiro "various") and 時々 (tokidoki "sometimes"). This mark also appears in personal and place names, as in the surname Sasaki (佐々木). This symbol is a simplified version of the kanji 仝 (variant of 同 dō "same").
Another frequently used symbol is ヶ (a small katakana "ke"), pronounced "ka" when used to indicate quantity (such as 六ヶ月, rokkagetsu "six months") or "ga" in place names like Kasumigaseki (霞ヶ関). This symbol is a simplified version of the kanji 箇.
Radical-and-stroke sorting (Alphabetization)
Kanji, whose thousands of symbols defy ordering by convention such as is used with the Roman Alphabet, uses radical-and-stroke sorting to order a list of Kanji words. In this system, common components of characters are identified; these are called radicals in Chinese and logographic systems derived from Chinese, such as Kanji.
Characters are then grouped by their primary radical, then ordered by number of pen strokes within radicals. When there is no obvious radical or more than one radical, convention governs which is used for collation. For example, the Chinese character for "mother" (媽) is sorted as a thirteen-stroke character under the three-stroke primary radical (女) meaning "woman".
Kanji education
Japanese schoolchildren are expected to learn 1006 basic kanji characters, the kyōiku kanji, before finishing the sixth grade. The order in which these characters are learned is fixed. The kyōiku kanji list is a subset of a larger list of 1945 kanji characters known as the jōyō kanji, characters required for the level of fluency necessary to read newspapers and literature in Japanese. This larger list of characters is to be mastered by the end of the ninth grade. Schoolchildren learn the characters by repetition and radical.
Students studying Japanese as a foreign language are often required to acquire kanji without having first learned the vocabulary associated with them. Strategies for these learners vary from copying-based methods to mnemonic-based methods such as those used in James Heisig's series Remembering the Kanji. Other textbooks use methods based on the etymology of the characters, such as Mathias and Habein's The Complete Guide to Everyday Kanji and Henshall's A Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters. Pictorial mnemonics, as in the text Kanji Pict-o-graphix, are also seen.
The Japanese government provides the Kanji kentei (日本漢字能力検定試験 Nihon kanji nōryoku kentei shiken; "Test of Japanese Kanji Aptitude") which tests the ability to read and write kanji. The highest level of the Kanji kentei tests about 6000 kanji.
• Double consonants (sokuon) are counted as 1 mora (tsumaru oto). Thus, for example, oppai "breasts" is two syllables, "op"-"pai" but four moras, o-(p waiting)-pa-i, and ippai is two syllables, "ip"-"pai" but four moras, i-(p waiting)-pa-i.
• The Japanese phonetical system doesn't have any consonant teminated moras except n'. They do exist in practice, like the ending -des' for desu, but we consider it to have (neutral or half) vowel of /u/, and t', d' are considered to be /to/, /do/, respectively.
In changing English words to Japanese, for example 'trumpet' is pronounced torampetto. The moras are to-ra-n'-pe-(sokuon)-to, which makes six, although the original has two syllables, trum-pet.
iGoogle
Kyōiku kanji(教育漢字, literally "education kanji"),
also known as
Gakunenbetsu kanji haitōhyō (学年別漢字配当表, literally "list of kanji by school year") is a list of 1,006 kanji and associated readings developed and maintained by the Japanese Ministry of Education that prescribes which kanji, and which readings of kanji, Japanese schoolchildren should learn for each year of elementary school. Although the list is designed for Japanese children, it can also be used as a sequence of learning characters by non-native speakers as a means of focusing on the most commonly used kanji.
Kyōiku kanji is a subset of Jōyō kanji.
• 1946 created with 881 characters
• 1977 expanded to 996 characters
• 1982 expanded to 1,006 characters
The list by grade
Note: Many kanji have complex meanings and nuances, or express concepts not found in the English language. In those cases, the English meanings mentioned here constitute approximations at best.
First grade (80 kanji)
Kanji
Meaning On, On Kun
一
one ichi, itsu hito-tsu
二
two ni, ji futa-tsu
三
three san mit-tsu
四
four shi yot-tsu or yon
五
five go itsu-tsu
六
six roku mut-tsu
七
seven shichi nana-tsu
八
eight hachi yat-tsu
九
nine ku or kyū kokono-tsu
十
ten jū tō
百
hundred hyaku momo
千
thousand sen chi
上
top jō ue
下
below ka or ge shita
左
left sa hidari
右
right u or yū migi
中
inside, middle chū naka
大
large dai ō-kii
小
small shō chii-sai
月
month; moon gatsu or getsu tsuki
日
day; sun nichi hi
年
year nen toshi
早
early sō haya-i
木
tree moku; boku ki
林
woods rin hayashi
山
mountain san yama
川
river sen kawa
土
soil do tsuchi
空
sky kū sora
田
rice paddy den ta
天
heaven; sky ten ama
生
life sei or shō i-kiru or u-mu or nama
花
flower ka hana
草
grass sō kusa
虫
insect chū mushi
犬
dog ken inu
人
person jin or nin hito
名
name mei or myō na
女
female jo or nyo on'na
男
male dan or nan otoko
子
child shi or su ko
目
eye moku me
耳
ear ji or ni mimi
口
mouth kō kuchi
手
hand shu te
足
foot or leg soku ashi
見
see ken mi-ru
音
sound on ne or oto
力
power riki or ryoku chikara
気
spirit ki or ke
円
circle; yen en maru
入
enter nyū hai-ru or i-ru
出
exit shutsu de-ru
立
stand up ritsu ta-tsu
休
rest kyū yasu-mu
先
previous sen saki
夕
evening seki yū
本
book hon moto
文
writing bun or mon fumi
字
character ji azana
学
study gaku mana-bu
校
school kō
村
village son mura
町
town chō machi
森
forest shin mori
正
correct sei tada-shii
水
water sui mizu
火
fire ka hi
玉
gem gyoku tama
王
king ō
石
stone seki ishi
竹
bamboo chiku take
糸
thread shi ito
貝
shellfish kai
車
wheeled vehicle sha kuruma
金
gold kin kane
雨
rain u ame
赤
red seki aka
青
blue sei ao
白
white haku shiro
Second grade (160 kanji)
Kanji Meaning On
Kun
数
number sū kazu
多
many,much ta ō-i
少
a few, a little shō suku-nai,suko-shi
万
ten thousand man yorozu
半
half han naka-ba
形
shape kei or gyō katachi
太
fat ta futo-i
細
thin sai hoso-i
広
wide kō hiro-i
長
long chō naga-i
点
point ten
丸
circle gan maru
交
mix kō maji-waru
光
light kō hikari
角
angle,corner kaku kado,tsuno,sumi
計
measure kei haka-ru
直
straight,correct choku,jiki tada-chi,nao-su
線
line sen
矢
arrow shi ya
弱
weak jaku yowa-i
強
strong kyō tsuyo-i
高
tall or high kō taka-i
同
same dō ona-ji
親
parent shin oya
母
mother bo haha,kaa
父
father fu chichi,tou
姉
older sister shi ane
兄
older brother kei ani
弟
younger brother tei or dai otouto
妹
younger sister mai imōto
自
oneself ji or shi mizuka-ra
友
friend yū tomo
体
body tai karada
毛
hair mō ke
頭
head tō atama
顔
face gan kao
首
neck shu kubi
心
heart shin kokoro
時
time ji toki
曜
weekday yō
朝
morning chō asa
昼
daytime chū hiru
夜
night ya yoru
分
minute; understand fun,bun wa-karu
週
week shū
春
spring shun haru
夏
summer ka natsu
秋
autumn shū aki
冬
winter tō fuyu
今
now kon ima
新
new shin atara-shii
古
old ko furu-i
間
interval kan,ken ma,aida
方
direction hō kata
北
north hoku kita
南
south nan minami
東
east tō higashi,azuma
西
west sei or sai nishi
遠
far en tō-i
近
near kin chika-i
前
in front zen mae
後
behind go,kou nochi,ushi-ro,ato
内
inside nai uchi
外
outside gai or ge soto,hoka,hazu-su
場
place jō ba
地
ground chi or ji
国
country koku kuni
園
garden en sono
谷
valley koku tani
野
field ya no
原
field, origin gen hara
里
village ri sato
市
city shi ichi
京
capital kyō or kei
風
wind fū kaze
雪
snow setsu yuki
雲
cloud un kumo
池
pond chi ike
海
sea kai umi
岩
rock gan iwa
星
star sei hoshi
室
room shitsu muro
戸
door ko to or be
家
house ka or ke ie
寺
Buddhist temple ji tera
通
pass through tsū tō-ru
門
gates mon kado
道
road dō michi
話
talk wa hanashi
言
say gen,gon i-u,koto
答
answer tō kota-eru
声
voice sei koe
聞
hear bun or mon ki-ku
語
language go kata-ru
読
read doku yo-mu
書
write sho ka-ku
記
write down ki shiru-su
紙
paper shi kami
画
picture ga or kaku
絵
picture kai e
図
drawing zu haka-ru
工
craft kō or ku
教
teach kyō oshi-eru
晴
fine sei hare
思
think shi omo-u
考
think about kō kanga-eru
知
know chi shi-ru
才
ability sai,zai wazukani,zae
理
reason ri kotowari
算
calculate san
作
make saku tsuku-ru
元
origin gen or gan moto
食
eat,meal shoku ta-beru,ku-u
肉
meat niku
馬
horse ba uma or ma
牛
cow gyū ushi
魚
fish gyo uo or sakana
鳥
bird chō tori
羽
feather u ha or hane
鳴
chirp mei na-ku
麦
wheat baku mugi
米
rice bei or mai kome
茶
tea cha or sa
色
colour shoku iro
黄
yellow ō ki
黒
black koku kuro
来
come rai ku-ru
行
go kō or gyō i-ku,yu-ku,okonau
帰
return home ki kae-ru
歩
walk ho aru-ku,ayu-mu
走
run sō hashi-ru
止
stop shi to-maru
活
active katsu i-kiru
店
store ten mise
買
buy bai ka-u
売
sell bai u-ru
午
noon go uma
汽
steam ki
弓
bow kyū yumi
回
-times, to revolve kai
会
association kai or e a-u
組
association, team so kumi
船
ship sen fune
明
bright mei aka-rui
社
company sha yashiro
切
cut setsu ki-ru
電
electricity den
毎
every mai
合
fit gō a-u
当
hit tō a-taru
台
base dai or tai
楽
pleasure raku tano-shii
公
public kou ōyake
引
pull in hi-ku
科
section ka
歌
song ka uta
刀
sword tō katana
番
number ban
用
use yō mochi-iru
何
what ka nani or nan
Third grade (200 kanji)
Kanji Meaning On
Kun
丁
pair chō
世
world sei or se yo
両
both ryō
主
master shu nushi or omo
乗
ride jō no-ru
予
in advance yo
事
abstract thing ji koto
仕
serve shi tsuka-eru
他
other ta hoka
代
substitute dai or tai ka-waru or yo
住
dwell jū su-mu
使
use shi tsuka-u
係
person in charge kei kakari or kaka-ru
倍
double bai
全
whole zen matta-ku
具
tool gu
写
copy sha utsu-su
列
row retsu
助
help jo tasu-keru
勉
diligence ben tsuto-meru
動
move dō ugo-ku
勝
win shō ka-tsu
化
disguise ka ba-keru
区
ward ku
医
doctor i
去
leave kyo or ko sa-ru
反
anti- han so-ru
取
take shu to-ru
受
receive ju u-keru
号
number gō
向
face(v.) kō mu-kau
君
you kun kimi
味
flavor mi aji or aji-wau
命
life mei inochi
和
peace, sum wa
品
article hin shina
員
member in
商
commerce shō
問
question mon to-u or ton
坂
slope saka
央
center ō
始
begin shi haji-meru
委
committee i yuda-neru
守
protect shu mamo-ru
安
cheap an yasu-i
定
fix tei or jō sada-meru
実
fruit or content jitsu mi or mino-ru
客
guest kyaku
宮
Shinto shrine or prince (princess) kyū miya
宿
inn shuku yado or yado-ru
寒
cold kan samu-i
対
opposite tai
局
office kyoku
屋
premise oku ya
岸
shore gan kishi
島
island tō shima
州
state shū
帳
account book chō
平
flat hei or byō tai-ra or hira
幸
happiness kō saiwa-i or shiawa-se
度
degrees do
庫
warehouse ko
庭
garden tei niwa
式
style shiki
役
role yaku
待
wait tai ma-tsu
急
hurry kyū iso-gu
息
breath soku iki
悪
bad aku waru-i
悲
sad hi kana-shii
想
thought sō
意
idea i
感
feel kan
所
place sho tokoro
打
hit da u-tsu
投
throw tō na-geru
拾
pick up hiro-u
持
hold ji mo-tsu
指
finger shi yubi or sa-su
放
release hō hana-su
整
put in order sei totono-eru
旅
trip ryo tabi
族
tribe zoku
昔
long ago mukashi
昭
clear shō
暑
hot sho atsu-i
暗
dark an kura-i
曲
sheet music / crooked kyoku ma-garu
有
be yū a-ru
服
clothes fuku
期
period of time ki
板
board han or ban ita
柱
pillar chū hashira
根
root kon ne
植
plant shoku u-eru
業
business gyō
様
appearance or Mr (Mrs,Ms) yō sama
横
side ō yoko
橋
bridge kyō hashi
次
next ji tsugi or tsu-gu
歯
tooth shi ha
死
death shi shi-nu
氷
ice hyō kōri
決
decide ketsu ki-meru
油
oil yu abura
波
wave ha nami
注
pour chū soso-gu
泳
swim ei oyo-gu
洋
ocean, western yō
流
stream ryū naga-reru
消
extinguish shō ki-eru or ke-su
深
deep shin fuka-i
温
warm on atata-kai
港
harbor kō minato
湖
lake ko mizūmi
湯
hot water tō yu
漢
China kan
炭
charcoal tan sumi
物
thing butsu or motsu mono
球
ball kyū tama
由
reason yū or yu yoshi
申
say mō-su
界
world kai
畑
agricultural field hata or hatake
病
sick byō yamai
発
departure hatsu
登
climb tō or to nobo-ru
皮
skin hi kawa
皿
dish sara
相
mutual sō ai
県
prefecture ken
真
true shin ma
着
wear or arrive chaku ki-ru or tsu-ku
短
short tan mijika-i
研
sharpen ken to-gu
礼
thanks rei
神
god(s) shin or jin kami
祭
festival sai matsu-ri
福
luck fuku
秒
second byō
究
research kyū
章
chapter shō
童
juvenile dō
笛
whistle teki fue
第
ordinal number prefix dai
筆
writing brush hitsu fude
等
class tō hito-shii
箱
box hako
級
rank kyū
終
end shū o-waru
緑
green ryoku midori
練
practice ren ne-ru
羊
sheep yō hitsuji
美
beauty bi utsuku-shii
習
learn shū nara-u
者
someone sha mono
育
nurture iku soda-tsu
苦
suffer ku kuru-shii or niga-i
荷
luggage ka ni
落
fall raku o-chiru
葉
leaf yō ha
薬
medicine yaku kusuri
血
blood ketsu chi
表
list or surface hyō omote or arawa-su
詩
poem shi
調
investigate chō shira-beru
談
discuss dan
豆
beans tō or zu mame
負
lose fu ma-keru or o-u
起
wake up ki o-kiru
路
road ro ji
身
body shin mi
転
revolve ten koro-bu
軽
light kei karu-i
農
farming nō
返
return hen kae-su
追
follow tsui o-u
送
send sō oku-ru
速
fast soku haya-i
進
advance shin susu-mu
遊
play yū aso-bu
運
carry un hako-bu
部
part bu
都
metropolis to or tsu miyako
配
distribute hai kuba-ru
酒
rice wine shu sake or saka
重
heavy jū or chō omo-i or kasa-neru
鉄
iron tetsu
銀
silver gin
開
open kai hira-ku or a-ku
院
institution in
陽
sunshine yō
階
floor of a building kai
集
collect shū atsu-maru
面
face men omo-te or tsura
題
topic dai
飲
drink in no-mu
館
public building kan
駅
station eki
鼻
nose bi hana
Fourth grade (200 kanji)
Kanji Meaning On
Kun
不
not fu or bu
争
conflict sō araso-u
付
attach fu tsu-ku
令
orders rei
以
since i
仲
go-between chū naka
伝
transmit den tsuta-eru
位
rank i kurai
低
low tei hiku-i
例
example rei tato-eru
便
convenience ben or bin tayo-ri
信
trust shin
倉
storage sō kura
候
climate kō
借
borrow shaku ka-riru
停
halt tei
健
healthy ken
側
side soku kawa
働
work dō hatara-ku
億
hundred million oku
兆
portent or trillion chō kiza-shi
児
child ji or ni
共
together kyō tomo
兵
soldier hei or hyō tsuwamono
典
code ten
冷
cool rei tsume-tai or hi-eru or sa-meru
初
first sho hatsu or haji-me
別
separate betsu waka-reru
利
profit ri
刷
printing satsu su-ru
副
vice- fuku
功
achievement kō
加
add ka kuwa-eru
努
toil do tsuto-meru
労
labor rō negira-u
勇
courage yū isa-mu
包
wrap hō tsutsu-mu
卒
graduate sotsu
協
cooperation kyō
単
simple tan
博
Dr. haku
印
mark in shirushi
参
participate san mai-ru
史
history shi
司
director shi
各
each kaku ono-ono
告
tell koku tsu-geru
周
circumference shū mawa-ri
唱
chant shō tona-eru
喜
rejoice ki yoroko-bu
器
container ki utsuwa
囲
surround i kako-u
固
harden ko kata-maru
型
model kei kata
堂
public chamber dō
塩
salt en shio
士
gentleman shi
変
change hen ka-waru
夫
husband fu fuu bu otto
失
lose shitsu ushina-u
好
like kō su-ku or kono-mu
季
seasons ki
孫
grandchild son mago
完
perfect kan
官
government official kan
害
harm gai
察
guess satsu
巣
nest sō su
差
distinction sa
希
hope ki mare
席
seat seki
帯
sash tai obi
底
bottom tei soko
府
urban prefecture fu
康
ease kō
建
build ken ta-teru
径
diameter kei
徒
junior to
得
acquire toku e-ru
必
without fail hitsu kanara-zu
念
thought nen
愛
love ai
成
become sei na-ru
戦
war sen ikusa or tataka-u
折
fold setsu o-ru
挙
raise kyo a-geru
改
reformation kai arata-meru
救
salvation kyū suku-u
敗
failure hai yabu-reru
散
scatter san chi-ru
料
fee ryō
旗
national flag ki hata
昨
previous saku
景
scenery kei
最
most sai mo or motto-mo
望
hope bō nozo-mu
未
un- mi ima-da
末
end matsu sue
札
tag satsu fuda
材
lumber zai
束
bundle soku taba or tsuka
松
pine shō matsu
果
fruit, accomplish ka ha-tasu
栄
prosperity ei saka-eru
案
plan an
梅
apricot bai ume
械
contraption kai
極
poles kyoku kiwa-meru
標
signpost hyō
機
machine ki hata
欠
lack ketsu ka-keru
歴
curriculum reki
残
remainder zan noko-ru
殺
kill satsu koro-su
毒
poison doku
氏
family name shi uji
民
people min tami
求
request kyū moto-mu
治
govern chi or ji osa-meru or nao-ru
法
method hō
泣
cry kyū na-ku
浅
shallow sen asa-i
浴
bathe yoku abi-ru
清
pure sei or shō kiyo-raka
満
full man mi-chiru
漁
fishing ryō or gyō asa-ru
灯
lamp tō hi
無
nothing mu or bu na-i
然
so zen or nen shika-shi
焼
bake shō ya-ku
照
illuminate shō te-rasu
熱
heat netsu atsu-i
牧
breed boku maki
特
special toku
産
give birth san u-mu
的
target teki mato
省
government ministry sho or sei habu-ku
祝
celebrate shuku iwa-u
票
ballot hyō
種
kind or seed shu tane
積
accumulate seki tsu-mu
競
emulate kyō kiso-u
笑
laugh shō wara-u
管
pipe kan kuda
節
node setsu fushi
粉
flour fun ko or kona
紀
chronicle ki
約
promise yaku
結
tie ketsu musu-bu or yu-u
給
salary kyū tama-u
続
continue zoku tsudu-ku
置
put chi o-ku
老
old man rō o-iru
胃
stomach i
脈
vein myaku
腸
intestines chō
臣
retainer shin
航
cruise kō
良
good ryō yo-i
芸
art gei
芽
bud ga me
英
England ei
菜
vegetable sai na
街
city gai machi
衣
clothes i koromo
要
need yō i-ru
覚
memorize kaku obo-eru or sa-meru
観
observe kan mi-ru
訓
instruction kun
試
test shi kokoromi-ru or tame-su
説
theory setsu to-ku
課
section ka
議
deliberation gi
象
elephant zō or shō
貨
freight ka
貯
savings cho ta-meru
費
expense hi tsui-yasu
賞
prize shō
軍
army gun
輪
wheel rin wa
辞
resign ji ya-meru
辺
environs hen ata-ri
連
take along ren tsu-reru or tsura-neru
達
attain tachi
選
choose sen era-bu
郡
county gun
量
quantity ryō
録
record roku
鏡
mirror kyō kagami
関
related kan seki
陸
land riku
隊
group tai
静
quiet sei shizu-ka
順
obey jun
願
request gan nega-u
類
sort rui
飛
fly hi to-bu
飯
meal han meshi
養
foster yō yashina-u
験
test ken
Fifth grade (185 kanji)
Kanji Meaning On
Kun
久
long time kyū hisa
仏
Buddha hutsu or butsu hotoke
仮
sham ka or ke kari
件
affair ken
任
responsibility nin maka-seru
似
becoming ji ni-ru
余
too much yo ama-ru
価
value ka atai
保
preserve ho tamo-tsu
修
discipline shū osa-meru
俵
straw bag hyō tawara
個
individual ko
備
provide bi sona-eru
像
statue zō
再
again sai or sa futata-bi
刊
publish kan
判
judge han waka-ru
制
control sei
券
ticket ken
則
rule soku notto-ru
効
effect kō ki-ku
務
duty mu tsuto-meru
勢
power sei ikio-i
厚
thick kō atsu-i
句
phrase ku
可
possible ka
営
manage ei itona-mu
因
cause in yo-ru
団
group dan or ton
圧
pressure atsu
在
exist zai a-ru
均
level kin
基
foundation ki moto-duku
報
report hō muku-iru
境
boundary kyō sakai
墓
grave bo haka
増
increase zō ma-su or fu-eru
夢
dream mu yume
妻
wife sai tsuma
婦
lady fu
容
contain yō
寄
approach ki yo-ru
富
rich fu tomi
導
guide dō michibi-ku
居
reside kyo i-ru
属
belong zoku
布
linen fu nuno
師
expert shi
常
normal jō tsune
幹
tree-trunk kan miki
序
preface jo
弁
valve ben
張
stretch chō ha-ru
往
journey ō
復
repeating fuku
徳
virtue toku
志
intention shi kokorozashi
応
respond ō
快
cheerful kai kokoroyo-i
性
gender sei or shō saga
恩
grace on
情
feelings jō nasa-ke
態
condition tai
慣
accustomed kan na-reru
承
acquiesce shō uketamawa-ru
技
skill gi waza
招
beckon shō mane-ku
授
instruct ju sazu-keru
採
pick sai to-ru
接
contact setsu ses-suru or tsu-gu
提
present tei sa-geru
損
loss son soko-neru
支
branch shi sasa-eru
政
politics sei matsurigoto
故
circumstances ko yue
敵
enemy teki kataki
断
cut off dan ta-tsu or kotowa-ru
旧
old times kyū
易
easy eki yasa-shii
暴
outburst bō aba-ku
条
clause jō
枝
branch shi eda
査
investigate sa
格
status kaku
桜
cherry ō sakura
検
examine ken
構
construct kō kama-eru
武
military bu or mu
比
compare hi kura-beru
永
eternity ei naga-i
河
river ga kawa
液
fluid eki
混
mix kon ma-zaru
減
decrease gen he-ru
測
fathom soku haka-ru
準
standard jun
演
perform en
潔
undefiled ketsu isagiyo-i
災
disaster sai wazawa-i
燃
burn nen mo-eru
版
printing block han
犯
crime han oka-su
状
form jō
独
alone doku hito-ri
率
rate ritsu or sotsu hiki-iru
現
appear gen arawa-reru
留
detain ryū ru todo-maru
略
abbreviation ryaku
益
benefit eki
眼
eyeball gan me
破
rend ha yabu-ru
確
certain kaku tashi-ka
示
indicate shi shime-su
祖
ancestor so
禁
prohibition kin
移
shift i utsu-ru
程
extent tei hodo
税
tax zei
築
fabricate chiku kizu-ku
精
refined sei
素
elementary su or so moto
経
manage kei or kyō he-ru
統
unite tō su-beru
絶
discontinue zetsu ta-tsu
綿
cotton men wata
総
whole sō
編
compile hen a-mu
績
exploits seki
織
weave shiki o-ru
罪
guilt zai tsumi
群
flock gun mu-reru
義
righteousness gi
耕
till kō tagaya-su
職
employment shoku
肥
fertilizer hi ko-yasu
能
ability nō
興
entertain kyō oko-su
舌
tongue zetsu shita
舎
cottage sha
術
art jutsu sube
衛
defense ei
製
manufacture sei
複
duplicate fuku
規
rule ki
解
untie ge or kai to-ku
設
establish setsu mouke-ru
許
permit kyo yuru-su
証
evidence shō
評
evaluate hyō
講
lecture kō
謝
apologize sha ayama-ru
識
discriminating shiki
護
safeguard go mamo-ru
豊
bountiful hō yuta-ka
財
wealth zai
貧
poor hin mazushi-i
責
blame seki se-meru
貸
lend tai ka-su
貿
trade bō
賀
congratulations ga
資
resources shi
賛
approve san
質
quality shitsu
輸
transport yu
述
mention jutsu no-beru
迷
astray mei mayo-u
退
retreat tai shirizo-ku
逆
inverted gyaku sakara-u
造
create zō tsuku-ru
過
go beyond ka ayama-chi
適
suitable teki
酸
acid san
鉱
mineral kō
銅
copper dō
銭
coin sen zeni
防
prevent bō fuse-gu
限
limit gen kagi-ru
険
precipitous ken kewa-shii
際
occasion sai kiwa
雑
miscellaneous zatsu
非
negative hi ara-zu
預
deposit yo azu-keru
領
territory ryō
額
amount gaku hitai
飼
domesticate shi ka-u
Sixth grade (181 kanji)
Kanji Meaning On
Kun
並
row hei nami or nara-bu
乱
riot ran mida-reru
乳
milk nyū chichi
亡
deceased bō na-kunaru
仁
kindness jin
供
offer kyō or ku tomo
俳
actor hai
値
value chi atai
傷
wound shō kizu
優
superior yū yasa-shii
党
political party tō
冊
counter for books satsu
処
dispose sho
刻
engrave koku kiza-mu
割
divide katsu wa-ru
創
create sō tsuku-ru
劇
drama geki
勤
diligence kin tsuto-meru
危
dangerous ki aya-ui
卵
egg ran tamago
厳
strict gen kibi-shii
収
take in shū osa-meru
后
queen gō kisaki
否
negate hi ina or iya
吸
suck kyū su-u
呼
call ko yo-bu
善
good zen yo-i
困
become distressed kon koma-ru
垂
droop sui ta-reru
城
castle jō shiro
域
range iki
奏
play music sō kana-deru
奮
stirred up hun huru-u
姿
shape shi sugata
存
suppose son
孝
filial piety kō
宅
home taku ie
宇
eaves u
宗
religion shū sō
宙
mid-air chū
宝
treasure hō takara
宣
proclaim sen notama-u
密
secrecy mitsu
寸
measurement sun
専
specialty sen moppa-ra
射
shoot sha i-ru
将
leader shō
尊
revered son touto-bu
就
concerning shū tsu-ku
尺
measure of length shaku
届
deliver todo-ku
展
expand ten
層
stratum sō
己
self ko onore
巻
scroll kan ma-ku
幕
curtain maku or baku
干
dry kan ho-su
幼
infancy yō osana-i
庁
government office chō
座
sit za suwa-ru
延
prolong en no-basu
律
rhythm ritsu
従
obey jū shitaga-u
忘
forget bō wasu-reru
忠
loyalty chū
憲
constitution ken
我
ego ga ware
批
criticism hi
担
shouldering tan nina-u
拝
worship hai oga-mu
拡
broaden kaku hiro-geru
捨
throw away sha su-teru
探
grope tan saga-su
推
infer sui
揮
command ki
操
maneuver sō ayatsu-ru
敬
respect kei uyama-u
映
reflect ei utsu-ru
晩
nightfall ban
暖
warmth dan atata-kai
暮
livelihood bo ku-rasu
朗
melodious rō hoga-raka
机
desk ki tsukue
枚
sheet of... mai
染
dye sen so-meru
株
stocks kabu
棒
rod bō
模
imitation mo or bo
権
rights ken
樹
trees ju ki
欲
longing yoku ho-shii
段
steps dan
沿
run alongside en so-u
泉
fountain sen izumi
洗
wash sen ara-u
派
sect ha
済
settle sai su-mu
源
origin gen minamoto
潮
tide chō shio
激
violent geki hage-shii
灰
ashes kai hai
熟
ripen juku u-reru
片
one-sided hen kata
班
group han
異
uncommon i koto-naru
疑
doubt gi utaga-u
痛
pain tsū ita-i
皇
emperor kō ō
盛
prosper sei mo-ru
盟
alliance mei
看
watch over kan
砂
sand sa or sha suna
磁
magnet ji
私
me shi watakushi or watashi
秘
secret hi
穀
cereal koku
穴
hole ketsu ana
窓
window sō mado
筋
muscle kin suji
策
scheme saku
簡
simplicity kan
糖
sugar tō
系
lineage kei
紅
deep red kō beni or kurenai
納
settlement nō osa-meru
純
genuine jun
絹
silk ken kinu
縦
vertical ju tate
縮
shrink shuku chidi-mu
署
government office sho
翌
the following yoku
聖
holy sei
肺
lung hai
背
back hai se
胸
bosom kyō mune
脳
brain nō
腹
abdomen fuku hara
臓
entrails zō
臨
lookover rin nozo-mu
至
climax shi ita-ru
若
young jaku waka-i
著
renowned cho arawa-su or ichijiru-shii
蒸
steam jō mu-su
蔵
warehouse zō kura
蚕
silkworm san kaiko
衆
masses shū
裁
judge sai saba-ku
装
attire sō or shō yosoo-u
裏
back ri ura
補
supplement ho ogina-u
視
look at shi mi-ru
覧
perusal ran
討
chastise tō u-tsu
訪
visit hō otozu-reru
訳
translate yaku wake
詞
poetry shi kotoba
誌
document shi
認
recognize nin mito-meru
誕
born tan
誠
sincerity sei makoto
誤
mistake go ayama-ru
論
theory ron
諸
everything sho moro
警
guard against kei
貴
precious ki
賃
fare chin
遺
bequeath i
郵
mail yū
郷
home town kyō gō
針
needle shin hari
鋼
steel kō hagane
閉
closed hei shi-meru
閣
tall kaku
降
descend kō o-riru
陛
majesty hei
除
exclude jo or ji nozo-ku
障
hurt shō sawa-ru
難
difficult nan muzuka-shii
革
leather kaku kawa
頂
place on the head chō itada-ku
骨
bone kotsu hone
also known as
Gakunenbetsu kanji haitōhyō (学年別漢字配当表, literally "list of kanji by school year") is a list of 1,006 kanji and associated readings developed and maintained by the Japanese Ministry of Education that prescribes which kanji, and which readings of kanji, Japanese schoolchildren should learn for each year of elementary school. Although the list is designed for Japanese children, it can also be used as a sequence of learning characters by non-native speakers as a means of focusing on the most commonly used kanji.
Kyōiku kanji is a subset of Jōyō kanji.
• 1946 created with 881 characters
• 1977 expanded to 996 characters
• 1982 expanded to 1,006 characters
The list by grade
Note: Many kanji have complex meanings and nuances, or express concepts not found in the English language. In those cases, the English meanings mentioned here constitute approximations at best.
First grade (80 kanji)
Kanji
Meaning On, On Kun
一
one ichi, itsu hito-tsu
二
two ni, ji futa-tsu
三
three san mit-tsu
四
four shi yot-tsu or yon
五
five go itsu-tsu
六
six roku mut-tsu
七
seven shichi nana-tsu
八
eight hachi yat-tsu
九
nine ku or kyū kokono-tsu
十
ten jū tō
百
hundred hyaku momo
千
thousand sen chi
上
top jō ue
下
below ka or ge shita
左
left sa hidari
右
right u or yū migi
中
inside, middle chū naka
大
large dai ō-kii
小
small shō chii-sai
月
month; moon gatsu or getsu tsuki
日
day; sun nichi hi
年
year nen toshi
早
early sō haya-i
木
tree moku; boku ki
林
woods rin hayashi
山
mountain san yama
川
river sen kawa
土
soil do tsuchi
空
sky kū sora
田
rice paddy den ta
天
heaven; sky ten ama
生
life sei or shō i-kiru or u-mu or nama
花
flower ka hana
草
grass sō kusa
虫
insect chū mushi
犬
dog ken inu
人
person jin or nin hito
名
name mei or myō na
女
female jo or nyo on'na
男
male dan or nan otoko
子
child shi or su ko
目
eye moku me
耳
ear ji or ni mimi
口
mouth kō kuchi
手
hand shu te
足
foot or leg soku ashi
見
see ken mi-ru
音
sound on ne or oto
力
power riki or ryoku chikara
気
spirit ki or ke
円
circle; yen en maru
入
enter nyū hai-ru or i-ru
出
exit shutsu de-ru
立
stand up ritsu ta-tsu
休
rest kyū yasu-mu
先
previous sen saki
夕
evening seki yū
本
book hon moto
文
writing bun or mon fumi
字
character ji azana
学
study gaku mana-bu
校
school kō
村
village son mura
町
town chō machi
森
forest shin mori
正
correct sei tada-shii
水
water sui mizu
火
fire ka hi
玉
gem gyoku tama
王
king ō
石
stone seki ishi
竹
bamboo chiku take
糸
thread shi ito
貝
shellfish kai
車
wheeled vehicle sha kuruma
金
gold kin kane
雨
rain u ame
赤
red seki aka
青
blue sei ao
白
white haku shiro
Second grade (160 kanji)
Kanji Meaning On
Kun
数
number sū kazu
多
many,much ta ō-i
少
a few, a little shō suku-nai,suko-shi
万
ten thousand man yorozu
半
half han naka-ba
形
shape kei or gyō katachi
太
fat ta futo-i
細
thin sai hoso-i
広
wide kō hiro-i
長
long chō naga-i
点
point ten
丸
circle gan maru
交
mix kō maji-waru
光
light kō hikari
角
angle,corner kaku kado,tsuno,sumi
計
measure kei haka-ru
直
straight,correct choku,jiki tada-chi,nao-su
線
line sen
矢
arrow shi ya
弱
weak jaku yowa-i
強
strong kyō tsuyo-i
高
tall or high kō taka-i
同
same dō ona-ji
親
parent shin oya
母
mother bo haha,kaa
父
father fu chichi,tou
姉
older sister shi ane
兄
older brother kei ani
弟
younger brother tei or dai otouto
妹
younger sister mai imōto
自
oneself ji or shi mizuka-ra
友
friend yū tomo
体
body tai karada
毛
hair mō ke
頭
head tō atama
顔
face gan kao
首
neck shu kubi
心
heart shin kokoro
時
time ji toki
曜
weekday yō
朝
morning chō asa
昼
daytime chū hiru
夜
night ya yoru
分
minute; understand fun,bun wa-karu
週
week shū
春
spring shun haru
夏
summer ka natsu
秋
autumn shū aki
冬
winter tō fuyu
今
now kon ima
新
new shin atara-shii
古
old ko furu-i
間
interval kan,ken ma,aida
方
direction hō kata
北
north hoku kita
南
south nan minami
東
east tō higashi,azuma
西
west sei or sai nishi
遠
far en tō-i
近
near kin chika-i
前
in front zen mae
後
behind go,kou nochi,ushi-ro,ato
内
inside nai uchi
外
outside gai or ge soto,hoka,hazu-su
場
place jō ba
地
ground chi or ji
国
country koku kuni
園
garden en sono
谷
valley koku tani
野
field ya no
原
field, origin gen hara
里
village ri sato
市
city shi ichi
京
capital kyō or kei
風
wind fū kaze
雪
snow setsu yuki
雲
cloud un kumo
池
pond chi ike
海
sea kai umi
岩
rock gan iwa
星
star sei hoshi
室
room shitsu muro
戸
door ko to or be
家
house ka or ke ie
寺
Buddhist temple ji tera
通
pass through tsū tō-ru
門
gates mon kado
道
road dō michi
話
talk wa hanashi
言
say gen,gon i-u,koto
答
answer tō kota-eru
声
voice sei koe
聞
hear bun or mon ki-ku
語
language go kata-ru
読
read doku yo-mu
書
write sho ka-ku
記
write down ki shiru-su
紙
paper shi kami
画
picture ga or kaku
絵
picture kai e
図
drawing zu haka-ru
工
craft kō or ku
教
teach kyō oshi-eru
晴
fine sei hare
思
think shi omo-u
考
think about kō kanga-eru
知
know chi shi-ru
才
ability sai,zai wazukani,zae
理
reason ri kotowari
算
calculate san
作
make saku tsuku-ru
元
origin gen or gan moto
食
eat,meal shoku ta-beru,ku-u
肉
meat niku
馬
horse ba uma or ma
牛
cow gyū ushi
魚
fish gyo uo or sakana
鳥
bird chō tori
羽
feather u ha or hane
鳴
chirp mei na-ku
麦
wheat baku mugi
米
rice bei or mai kome
茶
tea cha or sa
色
colour shoku iro
黄
yellow ō ki
黒
black koku kuro
来
come rai ku-ru
行
go kō or gyō i-ku,yu-ku,okonau
帰
return home ki kae-ru
歩
walk ho aru-ku,ayu-mu
走
run sō hashi-ru
止
stop shi to-maru
活
active katsu i-kiru
店
store ten mise
買
buy bai ka-u
売
sell bai u-ru
午
noon go uma
汽
steam ki
弓
bow kyū yumi
回
-times, to revolve kai
会
association kai or e a-u
組
association, team so kumi
船
ship sen fune
明
bright mei aka-rui
社
company sha yashiro
切
cut setsu ki-ru
電
electricity den
毎
every mai
合
fit gō a-u
当
hit tō a-taru
台
base dai or tai
楽
pleasure raku tano-shii
公
public kou ōyake
引
pull in hi-ku
科
section ka
歌
song ka uta
刀
sword tō katana
番
number ban
用
use yō mochi-iru
何
what ka nani or nan
Third grade (200 kanji)
Kanji Meaning On
Kun
丁
pair chō
世
world sei or se yo
両
both ryō
主
master shu nushi or omo
乗
ride jō no-ru
予
in advance yo
事
abstract thing ji koto
仕
serve shi tsuka-eru
他
other ta hoka
代
substitute dai or tai ka-waru or yo
住
dwell jū su-mu
使
use shi tsuka-u
係
person in charge kei kakari or kaka-ru
倍
double bai
全
whole zen matta-ku
具
tool gu
写
copy sha utsu-su
列
row retsu
助
help jo tasu-keru
勉
diligence ben tsuto-meru
動
move dō ugo-ku
勝
win shō ka-tsu
化
disguise ka ba-keru
区
ward ku
医
doctor i
去
leave kyo or ko sa-ru
反
anti- han so-ru
取
take shu to-ru
受
receive ju u-keru
号
number gō
向
face(v.) kō mu-kau
君
you kun kimi
味
flavor mi aji or aji-wau
命
life mei inochi
和
peace, sum wa
品
article hin shina
員
member in
商
commerce shō
問
question mon to-u or ton
坂
slope saka
央
center ō
始
begin shi haji-meru
委
committee i yuda-neru
守
protect shu mamo-ru
安
cheap an yasu-i
定
fix tei or jō sada-meru
実
fruit or content jitsu mi or mino-ru
客
guest kyaku
宮
Shinto shrine or prince (princess) kyū miya
宿
inn shuku yado or yado-ru
寒
cold kan samu-i
対
opposite tai
局
office kyoku
屋
premise oku ya
岸
shore gan kishi
島
island tō shima
州
state shū
帳
account book chō
平
flat hei or byō tai-ra or hira
幸
happiness kō saiwa-i or shiawa-se
度
degrees do
庫
warehouse ko
庭
garden tei niwa
式
style shiki
役
role yaku
待
wait tai ma-tsu
急
hurry kyū iso-gu
息
breath soku iki
悪
bad aku waru-i
悲
sad hi kana-shii
想
thought sō
意
idea i
感
feel kan
所
place sho tokoro
打
hit da u-tsu
投
throw tō na-geru
拾
pick up hiro-u
持
hold ji mo-tsu
指
finger shi yubi or sa-su
放
release hō hana-su
整
put in order sei totono-eru
旅
trip ryo tabi
族
tribe zoku
昔
long ago mukashi
昭
clear shō
暑
hot sho atsu-i
暗
dark an kura-i
曲
sheet music / crooked kyoku ma-garu
有
be yū a-ru
服
clothes fuku
期
period of time ki
板
board han or ban ita
柱
pillar chū hashira
根
root kon ne
植
plant shoku u-eru
業
business gyō
様
appearance or Mr (Mrs,Ms) yō sama
横
side ō yoko
橋
bridge kyō hashi
次
next ji tsugi or tsu-gu
歯
tooth shi ha
死
death shi shi-nu
氷
ice hyō kōri
決
decide ketsu ki-meru
油
oil yu abura
波
wave ha nami
注
pour chū soso-gu
泳
swim ei oyo-gu
洋
ocean, western yō
流
stream ryū naga-reru
消
extinguish shō ki-eru or ke-su
深
deep shin fuka-i
温
warm on atata-kai
港
harbor kō minato
湖
lake ko mizūmi
湯
hot water tō yu
漢
China kan
炭
charcoal tan sumi
物
thing butsu or motsu mono
球
ball kyū tama
由
reason yū or yu yoshi
申
say mō-su
界
world kai
畑
agricultural field hata or hatake
病
sick byō yamai
発
departure hatsu
登
climb tō or to nobo-ru
皮
skin hi kawa
皿
dish sara
相
mutual sō ai
県
prefecture ken
真
true shin ma
着
wear or arrive chaku ki-ru or tsu-ku
短
short tan mijika-i
研
sharpen ken to-gu
礼
thanks rei
神
god(s) shin or jin kami
祭
festival sai matsu-ri
福
luck fuku
秒
second byō
究
research kyū
章
chapter shō
童
juvenile dō
笛
whistle teki fue
第
ordinal number prefix dai
筆
writing brush hitsu fude
等
class tō hito-shii
箱
box hako
級
rank kyū
終
end shū o-waru
緑
green ryoku midori
練
practice ren ne-ru
羊
sheep yō hitsuji
美
beauty bi utsuku-shii
習
learn shū nara-u
者
someone sha mono
育
nurture iku soda-tsu
苦
suffer ku kuru-shii or niga-i
荷
luggage ka ni
落
fall raku o-chiru
葉
leaf yō ha
薬
medicine yaku kusuri
血
blood ketsu chi
表
list or surface hyō omote or arawa-su
詩
poem shi
調
investigate chō shira-beru
談
discuss dan
豆
beans tō or zu mame
負
lose fu ma-keru or o-u
起
wake up ki o-kiru
路
road ro ji
身
body shin mi
転
revolve ten koro-bu
軽
light kei karu-i
農
farming nō
返
return hen kae-su
追
follow tsui o-u
送
send sō oku-ru
速
fast soku haya-i
進
advance shin susu-mu
遊
play yū aso-bu
運
carry un hako-bu
部
part bu
都
metropolis to or tsu miyako
配
distribute hai kuba-ru
酒
rice wine shu sake or saka
重
heavy jū or chō omo-i or kasa-neru
鉄
iron tetsu
銀
silver gin
開
open kai hira-ku or a-ku
院
institution in
陽
sunshine yō
階
floor of a building kai
集
collect shū atsu-maru
面
face men omo-te or tsura
題
topic dai
飲
drink in no-mu
館
public building kan
駅
station eki
鼻
nose bi hana
Fourth grade (200 kanji)
Kanji Meaning On
Kun
不
not fu or bu
争
conflict sō araso-u
付
attach fu tsu-ku
令
orders rei
以
since i
仲
go-between chū naka
伝
transmit den tsuta-eru
位
rank i kurai
低
low tei hiku-i
例
example rei tato-eru
便
convenience ben or bin tayo-ri
信
trust shin
倉
storage sō kura
候
climate kō
借
borrow shaku ka-riru
停
halt tei
健
healthy ken
側
side soku kawa
働
work dō hatara-ku
億
hundred million oku
兆
portent or trillion chō kiza-shi
児
child ji or ni
共
together kyō tomo
兵
soldier hei or hyō tsuwamono
典
code ten
冷
cool rei tsume-tai or hi-eru or sa-meru
初
first sho hatsu or haji-me
別
separate betsu waka-reru
利
profit ri
刷
printing satsu su-ru
副
vice- fuku
功
achievement kō
加
add ka kuwa-eru
努
toil do tsuto-meru
労
labor rō negira-u
勇
courage yū isa-mu
包
wrap hō tsutsu-mu
卒
graduate sotsu
協
cooperation kyō
単
simple tan
博
Dr. haku
印
mark in shirushi
参
participate san mai-ru
史
history shi
司
director shi
各
each kaku ono-ono
告
tell koku tsu-geru
周
circumference shū mawa-ri
唱
chant shō tona-eru
喜
rejoice ki yoroko-bu
器
container ki utsuwa
囲
surround i kako-u
固
harden ko kata-maru
型
model kei kata
堂
public chamber dō
塩
salt en shio
士
gentleman shi
変
change hen ka-waru
夫
husband fu fuu bu otto
失
lose shitsu ushina-u
好
like kō su-ku or kono-mu
季
seasons ki
孫
grandchild son mago
完
perfect kan
官
government official kan
害
harm gai
察
guess satsu
巣
nest sō su
差
distinction sa
希
hope ki mare
席
seat seki
帯
sash tai obi
底
bottom tei soko
府
urban prefecture fu
康
ease kō
建
build ken ta-teru
径
diameter kei
徒
junior to
得
acquire toku e-ru
必
without fail hitsu kanara-zu
念
thought nen
愛
love ai
成
become sei na-ru
戦
war sen ikusa or tataka-u
折
fold setsu o-ru
挙
raise kyo a-geru
改
reformation kai arata-meru
救
salvation kyū suku-u
敗
failure hai yabu-reru
散
scatter san chi-ru
料
fee ryō
旗
national flag ki hata
昨
previous saku
景
scenery kei
最
most sai mo or motto-mo
望
hope bō nozo-mu
未
un- mi ima-da
末
end matsu sue
札
tag satsu fuda
材
lumber zai
束
bundle soku taba or tsuka
松
pine shō matsu
果
fruit, accomplish ka ha-tasu
栄
prosperity ei saka-eru
案
plan an
梅
apricot bai ume
械
contraption kai
極
poles kyoku kiwa-meru
標
signpost hyō
機
machine ki hata
欠
lack ketsu ka-keru
歴
curriculum reki
残
remainder zan noko-ru
殺
kill satsu koro-su
毒
poison doku
氏
family name shi uji
民
people min tami
求
request kyū moto-mu
治
govern chi or ji osa-meru or nao-ru
法
method hō
泣
cry kyū na-ku
浅
shallow sen asa-i
浴
bathe yoku abi-ru
清
pure sei or shō kiyo-raka
満
full man mi-chiru
漁
fishing ryō or gyō asa-ru
灯
lamp tō hi
無
nothing mu or bu na-i
然
so zen or nen shika-shi
焼
bake shō ya-ku
照
illuminate shō te-rasu
熱
heat netsu atsu-i
牧
breed boku maki
特
special toku
産
give birth san u-mu
的
target teki mato
省
government ministry sho or sei habu-ku
祝
celebrate shuku iwa-u
票
ballot hyō
種
kind or seed shu tane
積
accumulate seki tsu-mu
競
emulate kyō kiso-u
笑
laugh shō wara-u
管
pipe kan kuda
節
node setsu fushi
粉
flour fun ko or kona
紀
chronicle ki
約
promise yaku
結
tie ketsu musu-bu or yu-u
給
salary kyū tama-u
続
continue zoku tsudu-ku
置
put chi o-ku
老
old man rō o-iru
胃
stomach i
脈
vein myaku
腸
intestines chō
臣
retainer shin
航
cruise kō
良
good ryō yo-i
芸
art gei
芽
bud ga me
英
England ei
菜
vegetable sai na
街
city gai machi
衣
clothes i koromo
要
need yō i-ru
覚
memorize kaku obo-eru or sa-meru
観
observe kan mi-ru
訓
instruction kun
試
test shi kokoromi-ru or tame-su
説
theory setsu to-ku
課
section ka
議
deliberation gi
象
elephant zō or shō
貨
freight ka
貯
savings cho ta-meru
費
expense hi tsui-yasu
賞
prize shō
軍
army gun
輪
wheel rin wa
辞
resign ji ya-meru
辺
environs hen ata-ri
連
take along ren tsu-reru or tsura-neru
達
attain tachi
選
choose sen era-bu
郡
county gun
量
quantity ryō
録
record roku
鏡
mirror kyō kagami
関
related kan seki
陸
land riku
隊
group tai
静
quiet sei shizu-ka
順
obey jun
願
request gan nega-u
類
sort rui
飛
fly hi to-bu
飯
meal han meshi
養
foster yō yashina-u
験
test ken
Fifth grade (185 kanji)
Kanji Meaning On
Kun
久
long time kyū hisa
仏
Buddha hutsu or butsu hotoke
仮
sham ka or ke kari
件
affair ken
任
responsibility nin maka-seru
似
becoming ji ni-ru
余
too much yo ama-ru
価
value ka atai
保
preserve ho tamo-tsu
修
discipline shū osa-meru
俵
straw bag hyō tawara
個
individual ko
備
provide bi sona-eru
像
statue zō
再
again sai or sa futata-bi
刊
publish kan
判
judge han waka-ru
制
control sei
券
ticket ken
則
rule soku notto-ru
効
effect kō ki-ku
務
duty mu tsuto-meru
勢
power sei ikio-i
厚
thick kō atsu-i
句
phrase ku
可
possible ka
営
manage ei itona-mu
因
cause in yo-ru
団
group dan or ton
圧
pressure atsu
在
exist zai a-ru
均
level kin
基
foundation ki moto-duku
報
report hō muku-iru
境
boundary kyō sakai
墓
grave bo haka
増
increase zō ma-su or fu-eru
夢
dream mu yume
妻
wife sai tsuma
婦
lady fu
容
contain yō
寄
approach ki yo-ru
富
rich fu tomi
導
guide dō michibi-ku
居
reside kyo i-ru
属
belong zoku
布
linen fu nuno
師
expert shi
常
normal jō tsune
幹
tree-trunk kan miki
序
preface jo
弁
valve ben
張
stretch chō ha-ru
往
journey ō
復
repeating fuku
徳
virtue toku
志
intention shi kokorozashi
応
respond ō
快
cheerful kai kokoroyo-i
性
gender sei or shō saga
恩
grace on
情
feelings jō nasa-ke
態
condition tai
慣
accustomed kan na-reru
承
acquiesce shō uketamawa-ru
技
skill gi waza
招
beckon shō mane-ku
授
instruct ju sazu-keru
採
pick sai to-ru
接
contact setsu ses-suru or tsu-gu
提
present tei sa-geru
損
loss son soko-neru
支
branch shi sasa-eru
政
politics sei matsurigoto
故
circumstances ko yue
敵
enemy teki kataki
断
cut off dan ta-tsu or kotowa-ru
旧
old times kyū
易
easy eki yasa-shii
暴
outburst bō aba-ku
条
clause jō
枝
branch shi eda
査
investigate sa
格
status kaku
桜
cherry ō sakura
検
examine ken
構
construct kō kama-eru
武
military bu or mu
比
compare hi kura-beru
永
eternity ei naga-i
河
river ga kawa
液
fluid eki
混
mix kon ma-zaru
減
decrease gen he-ru
測
fathom soku haka-ru
準
standard jun
演
perform en
潔
undefiled ketsu isagiyo-i
災
disaster sai wazawa-i
燃
burn nen mo-eru
版
printing block han
犯
crime han oka-su
状
form jō
独
alone doku hito-ri
率
rate ritsu or sotsu hiki-iru
現
appear gen arawa-reru
留
detain ryū ru todo-maru
略
abbreviation ryaku
益
benefit eki
眼
eyeball gan me
破
rend ha yabu-ru
確
certain kaku tashi-ka
示
indicate shi shime-su
祖
ancestor so
禁
prohibition kin
移
shift i utsu-ru
程
extent tei hodo
税
tax zei
築
fabricate chiku kizu-ku
精
refined sei
素
elementary su or so moto
経
manage kei or kyō he-ru
統
unite tō su-beru
絶
discontinue zetsu ta-tsu
綿
cotton men wata
総
whole sō
編
compile hen a-mu
績
exploits seki
織
weave shiki o-ru
罪
guilt zai tsumi
群
flock gun mu-reru
義
righteousness gi
耕
till kō tagaya-su
職
employment shoku
肥
fertilizer hi ko-yasu
能
ability nō
興
entertain kyō oko-su
舌
tongue zetsu shita
舎
cottage sha
術
art jutsu sube
衛
defense ei
製
manufacture sei
複
duplicate fuku
規
rule ki
解
untie ge or kai to-ku
設
establish setsu mouke-ru
許
permit kyo yuru-su
証
evidence shō
評
evaluate hyō
講
lecture kō
謝
apologize sha ayama-ru
識
discriminating shiki
護
safeguard go mamo-ru
豊
bountiful hō yuta-ka
財
wealth zai
貧
poor hin mazushi-i
責
blame seki se-meru
貸
lend tai ka-su
貿
trade bō
賀
congratulations ga
資
resources shi
賛
approve san
質
quality shitsu
輸
transport yu
述
mention jutsu no-beru
迷
astray mei mayo-u
退
retreat tai shirizo-ku
逆
inverted gyaku sakara-u
造
create zō tsuku-ru
過
go beyond ka ayama-chi
適
suitable teki
酸
acid san
鉱
mineral kō
銅
copper dō
銭
coin sen zeni
防
prevent bō fuse-gu
限
limit gen kagi-ru
険
precipitous ken kewa-shii
際
occasion sai kiwa
雑
miscellaneous zatsu
非
negative hi ara-zu
預
deposit yo azu-keru
領
territory ryō
額
amount gaku hitai
飼
domesticate shi ka-u
Sixth grade (181 kanji)
Kanji Meaning On
Kun
並
row hei nami or nara-bu
乱
riot ran mida-reru
乳
milk nyū chichi
亡
deceased bō na-kunaru
仁
kindness jin
供
offer kyō or ku tomo
俳
actor hai
値
value chi atai
傷
wound shō kizu
優
superior yū yasa-shii
党
political party tō
冊
counter for books satsu
処
dispose sho
刻
engrave koku kiza-mu
割
divide katsu wa-ru
創
create sō tsuku-ru
劇
drama geki
勤
diligence kin tsuto-meru
危
dangerous ki aya-ui
卵
egg ran tamago
厳
strict gen kibi-shii
収
take in shū osa-meru
后
queen gō kisaki
否
negate hi ina or iya
吸
suck kyū su-u
呼
call ko yo-bu
善
good zen yo-i
困
become distressed kon koma-ru
垂
droop sui ta-reru
城
castle jō shiro
域
range iki
奏
play music sō kana-deru
奮
stirred up hun huru-u
姿
shape shi sugata
存
suppose son
孝
filial piety kō
宅
home taku ie
宇
eaves u
宗
religion shū sō
宙
mid-air chū
宝
treasure hō takara
宣
proclaim sen notama-u
密
secrecy mitsu
寸
measurement sun
専
specialty sen moppa-ra
射
shoot sha i-ru
将
leader shō
尊
revered son touto-bu
就
concerning shū tsu-ku
尺
measure of length shaku
届
deliver todo-ku
展
expand ten
層
stratum sō
己
self ko onore
巻
scroll kan ma-ku
幕
curtain maku or baku
干
dry kan ho-su
幼
infancy yō osana-i
庁
government office chō
座
sit za suwa-ru
延
prolong en no-basu
律
rhythm ritsu
従
obey jū shitaga-u
忘
forget bō wasu-reru
忠
loyalty chū
憲
constitution ken
我
ego ga ware
批
criticism hi
担
shouldering tan nina-u
拝
worship hai oga-mu
拡
broaden kaku hiro-geru
捨
throw away sha su-teru
探
grope tan saga-su
推
infer sui
揮
command ki
操
maneuver sō ayatsu-ru
敬
respect kei uyama-u
映
reflect ei utsu-ru
晩
nightfall ban
暖
warmth dan atata-kai
暮
livelihood bo ku-rasu
朗
melodious rō hoga-raka
机
desk ki tsukue
枚
sheet of... mai
染
dye sen so-meru
株
stocks kabu
棒
rod bō
模
imitation mo or bo
権
rights ken
樹
trees ju ki
欲
longing yoku ho-shii
段
steps dan
沿
run alongside en so-u
泉
fountain sen izumi
洗
wash sen ara-u
派
sect ha
済
settle sai su-mu
源
origin gen minamoto
潮
tide chō shio
激
violent geki hage-shii
灰
ashes kai hai
熟
ripen juku u-reru
片
one-sided hen kata
班
group han
異
uncommon i koto-naru
疑
doubt gi utaga-u
痛
pain tsū ita-i
皇
emperor kō ō
盛
prosper sei mo-ru
盟
alliance mei
看
watch over kan
砂
sand sa or sha suna
磁
magnet ji
私
me shi watakushi or watashi
秘
secret hi
穀
cereal koku
穴
hole ketsu ana
窓
window sō mado
筋
muscle kin suji
策
scheme saku
簡
simplicity kan
糖
sugar tō
系
lineage kei
紅
deep red kō beni or kurenai
納
settlement nō osa-meru
純
genuine jun
絹
silk ken kinu
縦
vertical ju tate
縮
shrink shuku chidi-mu
署
government office sho
翌
the following yoku
聖
holy sei
肺
lung hai
背
back hai se
胸
bosom kyō mune
脳
brain nō
腹
abdomen fuku hara
臓
entrails zō
臨
lookover rin nozo-mu
至
climax shi ita-ru
若
young jaku waka-i
著
renowned cho arawa-su or ichijiru-shii
蒸
steam jō mu-su
蔵
warehouse zō kura
蚕
silkworm san kaiko
衆
masses shū
裁
judge sai saba-ku
装
attire sō or shō yosoo-u
裏
back ri ura
補
supplement ho ogina-u
視
look at shi mi-ru
覧
perusal ran
討
chastise tō u-tsu
訪
visit hō otozu-reru
訳
translate yaku wake
詞
poetry shi kotoba
誌
document shi
認
recognize nin mito-meru
誕
born tan
誠
sincerity sei makoto
誤
mistake go ayama-ru
論
theory ron
諸
everything sho moro
警
guard against kei
貴
precious ki
賃
fare chin
遺
bequeath i
郵
mail yū
郷
home town kyō gō
針
needle shin hari
鋼
steel kō hagane
閉
closed hei shi-meru
閣
tall kaku
降
descend kō o-riru
陛
majesty hei
除
exclude jo or ji nozo-ku
障
hurt shō sawa-ru
難
difficult nan muzuka-shii
革
leather kaku kawa
頂
place on the head chō itada-ku
骨
bone kotsu hone
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