Japanese Language Stack Exchange
Japanese Language Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [kanji]

漢字. Chinese characters as used in Japanese writing as opposed to the two kana syllabaries and rōmaji (Latin letters).

漢字【かんじ】 is the Japanese name for Chinese characters as used in Japanese writing together with the hiragana and katakana syllabaries and letters from the Latin alphabet.

Kanji have several defining characteristics, including

  • at least one general meaning
  • 音読み【おんよみ】 readings derived from the character's Middle Chinese pronunciation
  • 訓読み【くんよみ】 readings that are native to Japanese.

Kanji are typically classified using the following characteristics

  • radicals
    Distinctive visual elements of the characters which are used to create logical groupings, often with related meanings.

  • stroke count
    The number of brush strokes needed to write the character. Stroke order for kanji is a rigidly defined concept, with a prescribed order that is considered "correct" for all characters.

  • on reading
    Where all other measures break even, kanji are usually then sorted by 音読み according to Japanese alphabetical order.

Related tags

See also

  • Kanji on English Wikipedia
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Is there any reason a lot of body parts use the Month/Moon radical?

腕、胸、お腹、肘、脇、肩 are all body parts, and their radical is 月. I wonder how that came to be?
Dylano Stewart Rodrigues
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If Kanji are necessary to disambiguate homophones, how come it's still used, being that Japanese people seem to know the difference when speaking?

I'm a beginner. People argue for Kanji being that it helps disambiguate homophones in written Japanese, but in spoken Japanese, kanji (or any other visual aid) are not available, yet people seem to know the difference between [話]{はな}す, [離]{はな}す,…
Matcha
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When do you use 下さい　as opposed to ください

I've noticed that there seems to be different usage for 下さい and ください. Is this purely a personal preferences or is there an actual difference their usage? This was actually a question the Japanese people at my work had a discussion about, but…
Mark Hosang
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What is 「々」 and how does it affect meaning and pronunciation?

I've seen this symbol in various places, such as 「日々」, 「色々」, and 「人々」. What is it, and how does it affect the meaning and pronunciation of the word?
Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams
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Kanji for native Japanese concepts: Kun'yomi spanning multiple morphemes

There are a few words, which are written with Kanji imported from China, but where the intended native Japanese meaning would prefer a different choice of Kanji. My favourite examples are 雷 vs. 神鳴り (cf. 海鳴り) 鶏 vs. 庭鳥 向日葵 vs. 日回り Does there already…
Earthliŋ
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What are the origins of ヶ?

The ヶ in e.g. 一ヶ月 is a bit of an odd character - it looks a lot like a small version of the katakana ケ, but is it derived from that katakana originally? Or is it a normal kanji? Or is it something else entirely?
bdonlan
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Stroke order for left and right

Why are the stroke orders for 右 and 左 different? 右 starts with the vertical stroke, and 左 starts with the horizontal one.
Nate Glenn
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What are the differences/characteristics between katakana, kanji and hiragana?

I know that romaji is the conversion from those to the roman alphabet, but what are the differences or characteristics between katakana, kanji, and hiragana? Are they used on a different context? Is one of them more formal than the others? Do they…
Madcowe
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不 and 非 and 無 and 未 usage difference/rule

Is there any rules that govern when to use 不 and 非 and 無 and 未 in regards to the meaning of "not" or "un-" for instance 非表示, 不満　
Mark Hosang
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What's the difference between the kanji forms for わかる?

The verb わかる can be written using either 分かる, 判る, or 解る - what's the semantic difference between these forms, if any?
bdonlan
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How can I tell if a Japanese person's given name is male or female?

I am hoping that there may be some particular kanji and/or sounds used in determining if a persons given name is male or female.
Jack Bosma
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Distinguishing certain characters in handwriting and print (Similar-looking Kana and Kanji)

Japanese has some sets of characters which look very similar or even identical. Obviously, context is usually more than enough to distinguish which character is intended, but I'm wondering if there are subtle differences which can be used to…
Zhen Lin
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How is the wind related to illness?

I've seen the kanji 風 appear in several different illnesses: [風邪]{«かぜ»} (a cold), [中風]{ちゅう・ふう} (paralysis), and [痛風]{つう・ふう} (gout). Conceivably there may be others, but I haven't seen them. What does the wind have to do with any of these (aside…
istrasci
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Difference between 丸い and 円い

Both come up with the same reading and definition in Jisho.org (round/circular), and both are listed as common words. Is there any preference between the two or should I simply learn both as interchangeable?
tsukaima
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Why are there two versions of the kanji for 冷?

The screenshot below is from Kotoba for iPhone. It shows the character for "cool", 冷 as used in the word 冷たい. However, the character in the stroke order diagram is slightly different to the main one displayed top-left! Why is this? Which one is…
MatthewD
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