kanji

Kanji are logographic characters used in the Japanese writing system. They are borrowed from Chinese characters (hanzi) and are used together with two syllabaries, hiragana and katakana. In modern Japanese, kanji mainly write content words such as nouns and verb stems; kana handle inflections and grammatical particles.

Kanji were introduced to Japan from China in the early centuries CE and were gradually integrated into writing and education. In the modern era, Japan standardized character forms, retaining shinjitai (modern forms) while kyūjitai (older forms) persist in historical texts and names.

Each kanji has one or more readings. On’yomi are Chinese-derived readings, kun’yomi are native Japanese readings. The same character can have several on’yomi and kun’yomi, depending on context and word formation. Kanji combine with kana to form words, while stroke order and character structure influence writing and interpretation.

The Jōyō Kanji list comprises 2,136 characters designated for daily use in education and publishing. Names may use additional jinmeiyō kanji. In writing, kanji are taught with radicals and stroke order; in the digital age they are encoded in Unicode and entered by input methods based on pronunciation or components.

Kanji vary in complexity and stroke count, and share radicals that hint at meaning. Mastery of kanji is central to literacy in Japanese and represents a long-term endeavor for learners.