Table of contents

Kanji (漢字 - か ん じ) is a hieroglyphic system that was borrowed from Chinese language and is used in the modern Japanese writing system. They are used alongside the Japanese syllabic scripts Hiragana and Katakana.

The number of Kanji in Japanese is much less than number of Chinese characters that Chinese learners have to learn. 2136 kanji characters are officially accepted for use in the publishing industry, while 1945 í the number of essential Kanjis to be taught in schools, according to the Japanese Ministry of Education.

To view details, click KANJI (1) => Select the Kanji character you want to see details of (2).


After that, you will see a new tab divided into 3 parts: GENERAL, STROKE AND ETYMOLOGY.

GENERAL

(1) Phonetic: Shows phonetic information for Kanji

  • On (On-yomi): Chinese reading of the character (how Japanese hear it when it was first introduced by Chinese)
  • Kun (Kun-yomi): native Japanese reading of the character
  • Chinese: Pinyin, or the Chinese way of pronunciation (as in Mandarin)
  • Korean: Korean way of pronunciation (as a Sino-Korean word)
  • Hán Việt: Vietnamese way of pronunciation (as a Sino-Viet word)

(2) Heisig: Breakdown the characters into radicals. Below it, you can see a mnemonic, or a fun sentence, which helps you remember the character more easily

(3) Similar Chinese characters: Some characters in Chinese that share some radicals or similar Pinyin. (this section can be helpful if you are learning Chinese at the same time)

STROKE

In Stroke, you can learn how to write each Kanji component and practice writing with your mouse.

Animated: Stroke writing instruction

Practice: Practice writing with your right mouse

ETYMOLOGY

In Etymology, you find information on:

(1) Formation: How the character was originally formed (in Chinese)
(2) Decomposition: Break down the character to radicals
(3) Component of: A list of words that contains this character as a component.

  • Phonetics: The character is a component that indicates how these words should sound like originally
  • Non-phonetic: The character is a component that indicates the meaning or other non-phonetic function of these words