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The 214 traditional kanji radicals and their meanings
Kanji alive A free study tool for reading and writing kanji
The 214 traditional kanji radicals and their variants Kanji are classi᱄ed in kanji dictionaries according to their main components which are called radicals (roots) in English and 部首 (ぶしゅ) in Japanese. 部 (ぶ) means a group and 首 (しゅ) means a chief. There are 214 historical radicals derived from the 18th century Kangxi dictionary. Every kanji without exception only has one radical / 部首 (ぶしゅ). Each radical has a meaning(s) and lends its meaning(s) to the kanji of which it is part. Please take a look at the examples below. The right part of these three kanji is the same but the left part is diᱜerent. The left part of these kanji is their radical. Note how each radical imparts its meaning to the kanji: 時: The radical of this kanji is 日 (sun, day, time). The meaning of this kanji is “time.” 詩: The radical of this kanji is 言 (words, to speak, say). The meaning of this kanji is “poetry, poem”. 持: The radical of this kanji is 扌(hand). The meaning of this kanji is “to hold”. For this reason it is very important to learn each kanji’s radical, as well as the meaning(s) of its radical. Not all 214 radicals are in use in current Japanese but you will soon become familiar with the most important ones and their variants. There are no oᱜcial Japanese names for radicals. But there are certain commonly-used names. That is why you will ᱄nd diᱜerences in the Japanese names for the radicals on diᱜerent websites and dictionaries. Radicals are categorized into seven main groups according to their position within a kanji. Please note that some kanji are also radicals in and of themselves (such as 大, 日, 月). In those cases, the kanji and the radical are one and the same, and thus the position of the radical in the kanji is irrelevant. As a result they do not fall into any one of the seven categories.
へん (hen) http://kanjialive.com/214traditionalkanjiradicals/
Radicals on the left side of the kanji 1/37
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The 214 traditional kanji radicals and their meanings
つくり (tsukuri)
Radicals on the right
かんむり (kanmuri)
Radicals on the top
あし (ashi)
Radicals on the bottom
かまえ (kamae)
Radicals which enclose the kanji
たれ (tare)
Radicals which "hang down"
にょう (nyou)
Radicals which wrap around the bottom of a character
With our web app (http://app.kanjialive.com) you can search for radicals by name, stroke or meaning using the Advanced Search syntax (for example, rjn:miru or rjn:みる to search by Japanese name, rs:7 to search by stroke number and rem:see to search by English meaning). Please consult our User
Guide for additional search options. Tip: By default, the radicals in the list below are presented in ascending stroke order. However you can also focus on a speci᱄c stroke number or look for individual radicals by using the “Search” ᱄eld at the top of the table. Alternatively you can click on a column heading to sort the entire table by that heading. This is also a good way to focus on just the most important radicals. Clicking on the “a variant of..” link scrolls the page to the original version of that radical. Tip: You can also use the table’s own search ᱄eld to search/᱄lter radicals by position. Use the radical positions table as a reference. For example, to view all radicals in the “hang down” position, type たれ or “tare” into the search ᱄eld. To avoid ambiguities amongst the diᱜerent kinds of “enclosed” radicals, search for these in hiragana. Placing your mouse pointer over any position symbol in the radical table reveals its Japanese name. Tip: If you’d like a copy of the radicals tables in a format better suited for printing or if you’d like to reuse the data in another application, please download the Japanese Radicals font described below. In its directory you’ll ᱄nd copies of the table in PDF and CSV formats. http://kanjialive.com/214traditionalkanjiradicals/
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The 214 traditional kanji radicals and their meanings
Fonts: Many of the radical characters shown on this list are not supported by the Japanese fonts widely used on Windows, OS X or Linux (some not even in Unicode). For these reasons we created Japanese Radicals, a font based on Source Han Sans with 66 custom glyphs which adds support for every Japanese radical and variant. The font is freely available for private or commercial use.
Search: STROKE#
RADICAL
1
⼀
POSITION
MEANING
READING NOTES
one,
IMPORTANCE
いち
horizontal stroke
1
⼁
vertical stroke
たてぼう
1
⼂
dot
てん
1
⼃
diagonal
の
sweeping stroke
1
diagonal
のかんむり
a variant
sweeping
of
stroke
（の）
1
⼄
the second
おつ
1
⺃
the second
おつ
⼃
a variant of
⼄（お
つ） 1
2
⼅
vertical stroke
⼆
two
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はねぼう
with a hook
に
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2
⼇
lid, top
なべぶた
2
⼈
person
ひと
2
⺅
person
にんべん
Important
a variant of
Important
⼈（ひ
と） 2
‚
person
ひとやね
a variant of
Important
⼈（ひ
と） 2
⼉
human legs
ひとあし
2
⼊
to enter
いる
2
⼋
eight
はち
2
eight
はちがしら
Important
a variant of
⼋（は
ち） 2
⼌
to enclose
けいがまえ
2
⼍
cover, crown
わかんむり
2
⼎
ice
にすい
2
⼏
table
きにょう
2
⺇
wind
かぜかんむ
⼐
container,
2
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Important
り かんにょう
open box 4/37
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The 214 traditional kanji radicals and their meanings
2
⼑
knife, sword
かたな
2
⺉
knife, sword
りっとう
a variant of
Important
⼑（か
たな） 2
⼒
power
ちから
2
⼓
to wrap
つつみがま
2
⼔
spoon
さじ
2
⼕
box
はこがまえ
2
⼖
to conceal,
かくしがま
hide
え
2
⼗
ten
じゅう
2
⼘
oracle
ぼく
2
⼙
stamp, seal
ふしづくり
2
⼚
cliᱜ
がんだれ
2
⼛
private,
む
⼜
again, right
⼝
mouth
くち
mouth
くちへん
2
3 3
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え
Important
Katakana Mu また
hand
a variant
Important 5/37
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3
⼞
The 214 traditional kanji radicals and their meanings
of
⼝（く
ち）
border,
くにがまえ
Important
territorial boundaries
3
⼟
earth
つち
3
earth
つちへん
a variant of
Important
⼟（つ
ち） 3
3
さむらい
⼠
man, scholar,
man, scholar,
さむらいか
a variant
samurai
んむり
of
samurai
⼠（さ
むらい） 3
⼡
to follow
のまた
3
⼢
to go slowly
なつあし
3
⼣
evening
ゆうべ
3
⼤
large, big
だい
3
⼥
woman
おんな
3
woman
おんなへん
a variant of
Important
⼥（お
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3
⼦
child, son
こ
3
child, son
こへん
a variant of
Important
⼦
（こ） 3
⼧
roof, house
うかんむり
3
⼨
inch, (2.25
すん
inch, (2.25
3
Important
cm)
すんづくり
cm)
a variant of
⼨（す
ん） 3
⼩
small
しょう
3
⺌
small
しょうかん
a variant
むり
of
⼩（し
ょう） 3
だいのまげ
⺐
lame leg
⼫
corpse,
3
⼬
sprout
くさのめ
3
⼭
mountain
やま
3
mountain
やまへん
3
あし しかばね
awning
a variant of
⼭（や
ま）
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The 214 traditional kanji radicals and their meanings
mountain
やまかんむ
a variant
り
of
⼭（や
ま）
3
⼮
winding river
まがりがわ
3
川
river
さんぼんが
a variant
わ
of
⼮（ま
がりがわ） 3
⼯
work,
たくみ
carpenter, skill
3
work,
たくみへん
a variant
carpenter,
of
skill
くみ）
3
⼰
self
おのれ
3
⼱
cloth
はば
3
cloth
はばへん
⼯（た
a variant of
⼱（は
ば） 3
⼲
to dry, shield
かん
3
⺓
young, slight
いとがしら
3
⼴
slanting roof
まだれ
3
⼵
to move,
えんにょう
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Important
stretch 8/37
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3
The 214 traditional kanji radicals and their meanings
にじゅうあ
⼶
folded hands
3
⼷
javelin
いぐるみ
3
⼸
bow （in
ゆみ
bow （in
3
し
archery） ゆみへん
archery）
a variant of
⼸（ゆ
み） 3
⼹
pig’s head
けいがしら
3
⺕
pig’s head
けいがしら
a variant of
⼹（け
いがしら） 3
⺔
pig’s head
けいがしら
a variant of
⼹（け
いがしら）
3
3
3
さんづくり
⼺
hair-style,
⼻
step, stride,
ぎょうにん
street, to go
べん
⺾
grass
くさかんむ
a variant
り
of
light rays Important
Important
⾋（く
さ） 3
⻌
road, walk, to advance
しんにょう
a variant of
Important
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The 214 traditional kanji radicals and their meanings
⻏
village,
おおざと
country, city
a variant of
Important
⾢（む
ら） 3
⻖
hill, mound
こざとへん
a variant of
Important
⾩（こ
ざと） 3
⺍
Katakana Tsu
つ
3
⺖
heart, mind,
りっしんべ
a variant
spirit
ん
of
Important
⼼（こ
ころ） 3
⺘
hand
てへん
a variant of
Important
⼿
（て） 3
⺡
water
さんずい
a variant of
Important
⽔（み
ず） 3
⺨
beast
けものへん
a variant of
Important
⽝（い
ぬ） 4
4
⼼
heart, mind,
⺗
heart, mind,
こころ
spirit したごころ
spirit
a variant of
⼼（こ
ころ） 4
⼽
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spear,
ほこ
weapon 10/37
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The 214 traditional kanji radicals and their meanings
4
⼾
door
と
4
door
とだれ
a variant of
⼾
（と） 4
⼿
hand
て
4
⽀
branch
しにょう
4
⽁
activity, to
ぼくづくり
⺙
activity, to
4
strike, hit ぼくづくり
strike, hit
a variant of
Important
⽁（ぼ
くづくり） 4
ぶん
⽂
literature,
⽃
big dipper,
4
⽄
axe
おのづくり
4
⽅
direction, ᱜag
ほう
4
direction, ᱜag
ほうへん
4
letters ますづくり
ladle, 18 liters
a variant of
⽅（ほ
う） 4
⽆
not
むにょう
4
⽇
sun, day, time
ひ
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4
The 214 traditional kanji radicals and their meanings
sun, day, time
ひへん
a variant of
Important
⽇
（ひ） 4
⽈
to say
ひらび
4
⽉
moon, month,
つき
⺝
moon, month,
4
period つきへん
period
a variant of
⽉（つ
き） 4
meat, ᱜesh
にくづき
a variant of
Important
⾁（に
く） 4
⽊
tree, wood
き
4
tree, wood
きへん
a variant of
Important
⽊
（き） 4
⽋
to lack, yawn
あくび
4
⽌
to stop
とめる
4
⽍
death &
がつ
dying, to decompose
4
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death &
がつへん
a variant
dying, to
of
decompose
つ）
⽍（が
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4
The 214 traditional kanji radicals and their meanings
るまた
⽎
lance shaft,
4
⽏
not, mother
なかれ
4
⽐
to compare
くらべる
4
⽑
hair
け
4
⽒
family, clan
うじ
4
⽓
steam, air
きがまえ
4
⽔
water
みず
4
⽕
᱄re
ひ
4
᱄re
ひへん
action
a variant of
Important
⽕
（ひ） 4
⺣
᱄re
れっか
a variant of
Important
⽕
（ひ） 4
⽖
claw, nail
つめ
4
⺤
claw, nail
つめかんむ
a variant
り
of
⽖（つ
め） 4
爫
claw, nail
つめかんむ
a variant
り
of
⽖（つ
め）
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The 214 traditional kanji radicals and their meanings
4
⽗
father
ちち
4
⽘
to mix
こう
4
⽙
split wood
しょうへん
4
⽚
split wood
かた
4
split wood
かたへん
a variant of
⽚（か
た）
fang, canine
4
⽜
cow
うし
4
cow
うしへん
4
きば
tooth
a variant of
⽜（う
し） 4
⽝
dog
いぬ
4
jewelry,
おうへん
jeweled king
a variant of
Important
⽟（た
ま） 4
4
⺭
㓁
altar, festival,
しめすへん
a variant
religious
of
service
めす）
net
あみがしら
Important
⽰（し
a variant of
⽹（あ
み）
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The 214 traditional kanji radicals and their meanings
⺹
old, old-age
おいかんむ
a variant
り
of
⽼（お
いかんむ り） 5
⽞
darkness
げん
5
⽟
jewelry
たま
5
melon
うり
5
⽡
tile
かわら
5
⽢
sweet
あまい
5
⽣
birth, to be
うまれる
5
⽤
to use
もちいる
5
⽥
rice paddy
た
5
rice paddy
たへん
born, live
a variant of
⽥
（た） 5
⽦
bolt of cloth
ひき
5
⺪
bolt of cloth
ひきへん
a variant of
⽦（ひ
き） 5
⽧
sickness
やまいだれ
5
⽨
outspread
はつがしら
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Important
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The 214 traditional kanji radicals and their meanings
legs, departure 5
⽩
white
しろ
5
white
はくへん
a variant of
⽩（し
ろ） 5
⽪
skin, hide
けがわ
5
⽫
plate, bowl
さら
5
⽬
eye
め
5
eye
めへん
a variant of
Important
⽬
（め） 5
eye
よこめ
a variant of
⽬
（め）
5
⽭
halberd
ほこ
5
halberd
ほこへん
a variant of
⽭（ほ
こ） 5
⽮
arrow
や
5
arrow
やへん
a variant of
⽮
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The 214 traditional kanji radicals and their meanings
5
⽯
stone
いし
5
stone
いしへん
a variant of
⽯（い
し） 5
⽰
altar, festival,
しめす
religious service
5
じゅうのあ
⽱
footprint
5
⽲
grain
のぎへん
5
⽳
hole, cave
あな
5
hole, cave
あなかんむ
a variant
り
of
し Important
Important
⽳（あ
な） 5
⽴
to stand
たつ
5
to stand
たつへん
a variant of
⽴（た
つ） 5
fang, canine
きば
tooth
a variant of
（き
ば） 5
fang, canine tooth
きばへん
a variant of
⽛（き
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The 214 traditional kanji radicals and their meanings
氺
water
したみず
a variant of
⽔（み
ず） 5
⺫
net
あみがしら
a variant of
⽹（あ
み） 5
☧
net
あみがしら
a variant of
⽹（あ
み） 5
⻂
clothing
ころもへん
a variant of
Important
⾐（こ
ろも） 5
⺛
not
むにょう
a variant of
⽆（む
にょう） 6
⽵
bamboo
たけ
6
⺮
bamboo
たけかんむ
a variant
り
of
Important
⽵（た
け） 6
⽶
rice
こめ
6
rice
こめへん
a variant of
Important
⽶（こ
め） 6
⽷
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thread
いと
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6
The 214 traditional kanji radicals and their meanings
thread
いとへん
a variant of
Important
⽷（い
と） 6
⽸
earthen jar
みずがめ
6
⽹
net
あみめ
6
⽺
sheep
ひつじ
6
⺷
sheep
ひつじ
a variant of
⽺（ひ
つじ） 6
羽
feather, wing
はね
6
⽻
feather, wing
はね
a variant of
羽（は
ね） 6
おいかんむ
⽼
old, old-age
6
⽽
and also
しこうして
6
⽾
plow
らいすき
6
⽿
ear
みみ
6
ear
みみへん
り
a variant of
⽿（み
み） 6
⾀
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writing brush
ふでづくり
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The 214 traditional kanji radicals and their meanings
6
⾁
ᱜesh, meat
にく
6
⾂
retainer,
しん
6
⾃
self
みずから
6
⾄
to arrive,
いたる
to arrive,
6
minister
reach いたるへん
reach
a variant of
⾄（い
たる） 6
⾅
mortar, quern
うす
6
⾆
tongue
した
6
⾇
contrary, to
まいあし
6
⾈
ship, boat
ふね
6
ship, boat
ふねへん
err
a variant of
⾈（ふ
ね） 6
⾉
boundary
こん
6
⾊
color
いろ
6
⾋
grass, plant
くさ
6
⾌
tiger
とらがしら
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6
6
The 214 traditional kanji radicals and their meanings
⾍
worm, insect,
worm, insect,
むし
bug むしへん
bug
a variant of
Important
⾍（む
し） 6
⾎
blood
ち
6
⾏
to go
ぎょうがま
6
⾐
clothing
ころも
6
⾑
cover, west
にし
6
⻃
cover, west
にし
Important
え
a variant of
⾑（に
し） 6
⽠
melon
うり
a variant of
⽠（う
り） 7
⾒
to see
みる
7
⾓
horn, corner
つの
7
horn, corner
つのへん
a variant of
⾓（つ
の） 7
⾔
7 http://kanjialive.com/214traditionalkanjiradicals/
words, to
げん
speak, say words, to
ごんべん
a variant
Important 21/37
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The 214 traditional kanji radicals and their meanings
speak, say
of
⾔（げ
ん）
7
⾕
valley
たに
7
valley
たにへん
a variant of
⾕（た
に） 7
⾖
bean
まめ
7
bean
まめへん
a variant of
⾖（ま
め） 7
⾗
pig
いのこ
7
⾘
badger
むじなへん
7
⾙
shell,
かい
property, wealth
7
shell,
かいへん
a variant
property,
of
wealth
い）
7
⾚
red
あか
7
⾛
to run
はしる
7
to run
そうにょう
⾙（か
a variant of
Important
Important
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The 214 traditional kanji radicals and their meanings
7
⾜
foot, leg
あし
7
⻊
foot, leg
あしへん
a variant of
Important
⾜（あ
し） 7
⾝
body
み
7
body
みへん
a variant of
⾝
（み） 7
7
⾞
vehicle,
vehicle,
くるま
wheel, car くるまへん
wheel, car
a variant of
Important
⾞（く
るま） 7
⾟
bitter
からい
7
⾠
Fifth zodiac
しんのたつ
⾡
to advance,
7
⾢
community
むら
7
⾣
sake jar, bird
ひよみのと
sake jar, bird
7
7
sign, 7–9 A.M. しんにょう
move ahead
り とりへん
a variant of
⾣（ひ
よみのと http://kanjialive.com/214traditionalkanjiradicals/
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り） 7
⾤
to separate
のごめ
7
to separate
のごめへん
a variant of
⾤（の
ごめ） 7
7
⾥
village, (3.93
village, (3.93
さと
km) さとへん
km)
a variant of
⾥（さ
と） 7
⾂
retainer,
しん
minister
a variant of
⾂（し
ん）
7
contrary, to
まいあし
err
a variant of
⾇（ま
いあし） 7
⻨
wheat
むぎ
a variant of
⿆（む
ぎ） 8
8
⾦
metal, gold,
metal, gold,
かね
mineral かねへん
mineral
a variant of
Important
⾦（か
ね） 8
⻑
http://kanjialive.com/214traditionalkanjiradicals/
long
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8
⾨
gate, door
もんがまえ
8
⾩
hill
こざと
8
⾪
to capture
れいづくり
8
⾫
small bird
ふるとり
8
⾬
rain
あめ
8
⻗
rain
あめかんむ
a variant
り
of
Important
⾬（あ
Important
め） 8 8
⾭ ⻘
blue, green
あお
blue, green
あお
a variant of
⾭（あ
お） 8 8
⾮ ⻟
wrong, non-
あらず
food, to eat
しょくへん
a variant of
⾷（し
ょく） 8
⻫
alike
せい
a variant of
⿑（せ
い） 9 9
⾯ ⾰
http://kanjialive.com/214traditionalkanjiradicals/
face, surface
めん
leather
つくりがわ
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9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 10 10
⾲ ⾳ ⾴ ⾵ ⾶ ⾷ ⾸ ⾹ ⾺
The 214 traditional kanji radicals and their meanings
leather
なめしがわ
leek
にら
sound, noise
おと
head, page
おおがい
wind
かぜ
to ᱜy
とぶ
food, to eat
しょく
head
くび
scent
かおり
horse
うま
horse
うまへん
Important
a variant of
⾺（う
ま） 10 10
⾻
bone
ほね
bone
ほねへん
a variant of
⾻（ほ
ね） 10 10
⾼ ⾽
http://kanjialive.com/214traditionalkanjiradicals/
high
たかい
long hair
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10
10 10 10 10
The 214 traditional kanji radicals and their meanings
⾾ ⾿ ⿀ ⿁ ⾱
᱄ghting
たたかいが まえ
herbs
においざけ
tripod
れき
demon
おに
leather
なめしがわ
a variant of
（な
めしがわ） 11 11
⿂
᱄sh
うお
᱄sh
うおへん
a variant of
⿂（う
Important
お） 11 11 11 11 11 11
⿃ ⿄ ⿅ ⿆ ⿇
bird
とり
salt
しお
deer
しか
wheat
むぎ
hemp
あさ
hemp
あさかんむ
a variant
り
of
⿇（あ
さ） 11
⻩
http://kanjialive.com/214traditionalkanjiradicals/
yellow
き
a variant of
⿈
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（き） 11
黒
black
くろ
a variant of
⿊（く
ろ） 11
⻲
turtle
かめ
a variant of
⿔（か
め） 12 12 12 12 12
⿈ ⿉ ⿊ ⿋ ⻭
yellow
き
millet
きび
black
くろ
embroider
ぬいとり
tooth
は
a variant of
⿒
（は） 13 13 13 13 14 14 15
⿌ ⿍ ⿎ ⿏ ⿐ ⿑ ⿒
http://kanjialive.com/214traditionalkanjiradicals/
frog
かえる
tripod
かなえ
drum
つづみ
rat, mouse
ねずみ
nose
はな
alike
せい
tooth
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The 214 traditional kanji radicals and their meanings
⿓ ⿔ ⿕
16 16 17
dragon
りゅう
turtle
かめ
ᱜute
やく
References: The English meanings of each radical in Kanji alive are based on Kanji & Kana by Wolfgang Hadamitzky & Mark Spahn, (1981), Tuttle Publishing with additional reference to Basic Kanji by Matsuo Soga & Michio Yusa (1989), Taishūkan, and Andrew N. Nelson, The Original Modern Reader’s Japanese-English Character Dictionary: Classic Edition, 2nd. ed. (1974), Tuttle Publishing. The Japanese names for the radicals are based on『講談社カラー版日本語大辞典』（第一版）1989, 講談社. Back to the top
23 thoughts on “The 214 traditional kanji radicals and their variants”
Alex August 2, 2013 at 9:33 am
Complete and clear, I ᱄nd this very helpful for those starting to learn kanji.
iji August 20, 2013 at 5:55 am
I don’t understand where you use 5 strokes for water. In Kanji Alive Web Interface, water has 4 strokes. 氺waterしたみず45 http://kanjialive.com/214traditionalkanjiradicals/
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hlory August 20, 2013 at 10:12 am
Hi iji, thank you for your note. “shitamizu” is a variant of “mizu” so in the Kangxi dictionary “shitamizu” was listed under 4 strokes. However, when you count the strokes of “shitamizu”, there are 5 strokes so we decided to list it in Kanji alive under 5 strokes.
iji August 26, 2013 at 9:31 am
my Windows XP & browsers can’t display some of the radicals (such as ひとやね, かぜ a.s.o.). is it a font-related problem?
Arno Bosse August 26, 2013 at 10:11 am
Hi iji, yes, this is a font related problem. Unfortunately most Japanese fonts do not include enough glyphs (graphical representations of characters) to cover all the radical variants. I can oᱜer two suggestions: The ᱄rst is to switch to Microsoft’s Meiryo font to show Japanese on the web by following these simple instructions on our website. This will improve the readability of all Japanese text on any website and should also provide support for more radical glyphs. However, there will still be a few radicals which can’t be displayed in Meiryo either. To address this, you could install the free Mplus outline fonts. These will de᱄nitely include support for the radicals used in Kanji alive. We didn’t provide instructions for doing this on our website since the process is potentially a little more complicated but if you’re interested in using Mplus we would be more than happy to assist you.
http://kanjialive.com/214traditionalkanjiradicals/
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iji August 27, 2013 at 4:24 pm
Thank you very much. I wasn’t aware of the Meiryo font. I did have problems with readability and I was zooming a lot most of the time :) As for the M+ font, I don’t think it’s worth the trouble for me at this point in time.
PheDz September 13, 2013 at 1:59 am
Hi, What do you think is the suggested writing to use, is it Kanji or Hiragana? I think it’s hard to learn the Kanji. But I want to learn Nihon-go. :)
hlory September 20, 2013 at 8:27 pm
Hi PheDz, There are three writing systems in Japanese: Kanji, Hiragana and Katakana. Beginners of the Japanese language always learn how to read and write Hiragana and Katakana because they are phonetic symbols. The readings of kanji are sometimes written in Hiragana along with the kanji. So once you learn how to read Hiragana, you can read any Japanese sentences even though you don’t know the meaning of them. For example, 明日(あした)、私(わたし)は日本(にほん)へ行(い)きます。(Ashita watashi wa nihon he ikimasu. I am going to Japan tomorrow) So you need to learn Hiragana ᱄rst. However, you will need to learn kanji eventually because kanji are very useful to grasp the meaning of words. Even just learning to recognize kanji is very helpful for you to understand the Japanese language. For example, please take a look at this sentence. はしのはしではしをかう。(Hashi no hashi de hashi o kau) This sentence is written in Hiragana only. You can see “はし” three times in this sentence. There are http://kanjialive.com/214traditionalkanjiradicals/
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many diᱜerent words with the same pronunciation in Japanese. Each はし has a diᱜerent meaning. But when you see the sentence in Hiragana, you can’t know which meaning the words in Hiragana have. However, when this sentence is written in kanji and Hiragana, the meanings are clear. 橋の端で箸を買 う。橋 （はし hashi）means a bridge, 端 （はし hashi）means an end or edge and 箸 (はし hashi) means chopsticks. The meaning of the sentence is “(I am going to) buy chopsticks at the end of a bridge.” I hope you can understand how important learning kanji is for the study of Japanese. Each kanji has a story behind it. If you learn those stories through radicals and mnemonic hints, the study of kanji will become enjoyable for you. I hope Kanji alive will help to lead you eᱜectively on this fun journey!
Steve P October 25, 2013 at 2:27 am
That’s a great response! I am taking an beginning japanese course now, and I am about 98% con᱄dent in my hiragana (there’s a few that I keep getting mixed up) 50% of my katakana. I understand that there are multiple meanings to hashi as it is written in hiragana. But, doesn’t this also apply to how your example sentence is spoken, since hiragana is just a way to transcribe sounds?
Rehn April 29, 2014 at 2:58 am
I think this is actually a very valid point and it’s not necessary to the understanding of Kanji. Of course we have to understand how to read Kanji but if someone were to say this sentence aloud how would you understand them? Or would you simply rephrase it to be better understood?
Harumi Lory
Post author
August 21, 2014 at 7:25 pm
Hi Rehn, I’m very sorry we didn’t respond to your comment in a timely manner – it somehow slipped our attention. http://kanjialive.com/214traditionalkanjiradicals/
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When you read sentences in Japanese, a knowledge of kanji is helpful for grasping the meaning of words easily. When you hear or speak the example sentence (hashi no hashi de hashi o kau), the intonation of “hashi” lets you know the meaning of each “hashi”, and the particles help you understand the meaning of the sentence. So it is important for learners of Japanese to learn all four skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing) at the same time.
Jac k December 14, 2014 at 7:21 pm
I’m wondering why the list is divided in this odd way, with the stroke numbers 1-12, and then starting again at 1 and going to 11.
Arno Bosse December 14, 2014 at 7:44 pm
Hi Jac, Did you mean the list of kanji you get following a search in the Kanji alive web app? I only ask because you posted this question on the page with the list of 214 traditional radicals. I am assuming you meant the list of kanji shown in the Kanji alive web app after a search. Here, the results of your searches can be viewed in three diᱜerent ways. Let’s assume, as in your example, some search you entered matched a group of kanji with strokes numbers between 1 and 12. Initially, these are shown sorted by kanji stroke number in ascending order, 1-12. Click once on the “Sort” button near the top of the web app’s window and you’ll now see the same set of kanji grouped by radical stroke number (i.e. the radicals found in the kanji matching the initial search term). If more than one kanji share a radical, then these are sorted again by their kanji stroke number. Click on the “Sort” button again, and you’ll see the same kanji grouped by their kanji stroke number. If several kanji share the same stroke number, these are then sorted again their radical stroke number. Click on “Sort” one more time and you’ll return to the initial (ungrouped) sort order, i.e. by kanji stroke number only. These three options are described more fully in the User Guide. I hope this helps make sense of what you’re seeing. If it does not, please email us at http://kanjialive.com/214traditionalkanjiradicals/
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[email protected] with a description of the search term you used to produce your earlier results and we’ll try to make sense of what’s going on.
Iuri January 15, 2015 at 3:44 am
Hi, thanks for posting this, I was looking for a place to to provide me with reference for studying the kanji radicals, however, I don’t seem to ᱄nd the stroke order of these radicals, where could I ᱄nd the stroke order?
Arno Bosse January 15, 2015 at 2:39 pm
Hi Iuri, did you mean #1 the (stroke) order by which radicals are traditionally sorted, or #2 the actual order of written strokes in a radical itself? For the former, the default order in which the radicals are presented on this page is the same as their traditional order of representation, i.e. on the basis of their strokes counts. However, I think you probably meant #2. I’m not aware of an online resource with this information, though I am con᱄dent one exists. Of course, in the case of radicals which are also kanji, you can lookup their kanji stroke using e.g. our own web app, http://app.kanjialive.com. Moreover, since each kanji, precisely speaking, only contains exactly one radical, if you know any kanji which uses this radical, you can watch the stroke order of the whole kanji and thus discover the stroke order of the radical within it. Please see the introduction to this page for diᱜerent ways to search for kanji by radical using the Kanji alive web app. I hope this helps!
Iuri February 4, 2015 at 4:25 pm
Thanks for your reply, and sorry for taking so long to answer, yes, I meant #2, I’m going to do what you suggested and look up for kanjis that have the radicals that I’m looking for, in order to get their stroke http://kanjialive.com/214traditionalkanjiradicals/
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order, again, thanks!
Laeark April 22, 2015 at 8:25 am
Hi, i just want to tell to the author that i ᱄nd this page the most useful and best explained about the japanese radicals ( ´・ω・)つ旦.
Arno Bosse
Post author
April 24, 2015 at 10:46 pm
Thank you! We’re glad you’ve found it to be a useful resource.
スミス May 3, 2015 at 6:04 am
Just ᱄nished Elementary Japanese II at the University of Tennessee. I only have about a hundred kanji, so far, but I am pretty good at it…so far:) This is a very helpful site… 先生 uses it often. Working with various sources actually….White Rabbit Press Kanji Flash Card (Series 2, Vol. 1 and 2), Graded Reader 1 (Vol. 1,2 , and 3), Genki I and II textbooks and workbooks), Genki Look-and-Learn Kanji, etc. It’s no more of a struggle than trying to remember the vocabulary, particles, the many conjugations of verbs, adjectives, nouns, etc…not to the sentence forms!! And the listening!! Wow…I’ve given up wondering why the sounds of the language don’t match the romaji….just go with the ᱜow…. しち as stigi (pardon my improve) or ひと (人) as shtoo (again, pardon the improve. Sorry, getting oᱜ on a lot of tangents! Wonderful and VERY useful site!!!
Leena May 22, 2015 at 11:46 pm http://kanjialive.com/214traditionalkanjiradicals/
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Hi, I am just a beginner in Japanese. For the ᱄rst months I’ve learned both Hiragana and Katakana and the basics in speaking but I think now it’s the time for me to ᱄nally learn kanji ;) I think this site will be very useful for me but I have a question. I’d like to learn all the radicals that are here before going any further but I’m confused about the on and kun-readings I’ve heard of. So here are given only the kunreadings? shouldn’t we learn them both with one kanji or not?
Kanji alive May 25, 2015 at 5:31 pm
Hi Leena, radicals don’t have On and Kun readings as such. They do have commonly used names or nicknames which are written in hiragana. The exception to this are the handful of radicals which are simultaneously also kanji. These kanji do have On and Kun readings. Especially as a beginner, it’s really not necessary for you to learn all of the radicals. Focus instead on the ones marked “Important” on http://kanjialive.com/214-traditional-kanji-radicals/ These radicals will be vital for your continued study of kanji. Lastly, even if you are learning kanji by yourself, it’s usually still a good idea to help organize your course of studies with the help of a good textbook. To see which textbooks are supported by Kanji alive, please visit http://kanjialive.com/supported-textbooks/
Diana May 24, 2015 at 8:19 am
Hi! I simply wanted to thank you!! It’s not a great contribution, but your site is so complete, useful and generous that I had to say it. :)
Kanji alive May 24, 2015 at 8:49 am
And thank you – you’re very welcome. http://kanjialive.com/214traditionalkanjiradicals/
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