The 214 Traditional Kanji Radicals and Their Meanings

30/05/2015
The214traditionalkanjiradicalsandtheirmeanings
Kanji alive
A free study tool for reading and writing kanji
The 214 traditional kanji radicals and their

variants
Kanji are classied in kanji dictionaries according to their main components which are called radicals
(roots) in English and () in Japanese. () means a group and () means a chief. There
are 214 historical radicals derived from the 18th century Kangxi dictionary.
Every kanji without exception only has one radical / (). 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 dierent. The left part of these kanji is their
radical. Note how each radical imparts its meaning to the kanji:
: The radical of this kanji is (sun, day, time). The meaning of this kanji is time.
: The radical of this kanji is (words, to speak, say). The meaning of this kanji is poetry, poem.
: The radical of this kanji is (hand). The meaning of this kanji is to hold.
For this reason it is very important to learn each kanjis 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 ocial Japanese names for radicals. But there are certain commonly-used names. That is
why you will nd dierences in the Japanese names for the radicals on dierent 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 , , ). 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.
(hen)
http://kanjialive.com/214traditionalkanjiradicals/
Radicals on the left side of the kanji

1/37
30/05/2015
(tsukuri)
Radicals on the right
(kanmuri)
Radicals on the top
(ashi)
Radicals on the bottom
(kamae)
Radicals which enclose the kanji
(tare)
Radicals which "hang down"
(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: 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 specic stroke number or look for individual radicals by using the Search eld 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 tables own search eld to search/lter radicals by position. Use the radical
positions table as a reference. For example, to view all radicals in the hang down position, type or
tare into the search eld. To avoid ambiguities amongst the dierent 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 youd like a copy of the radicals tables in a format better suited for printing or if youd like to reuse the data in another application, please download the Japanese Radicals font described below. In its
directory youll nd copies of the table in PDF and CSV formats.
2/37
30/05/2015
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
POSITION
MEANING
READING NOTES
one,
IMPORTANCE
horizontal
stroke
vertical stroke
dot
diagonal
sweeping
stroke
diagonal
a variant
sweeping
of
stroke
the second
the second
a variant
of
vertical stroke
two
with a hook
3/37
30/05/2015
lid, top
person
person
Important
a variant
of
Important
person
a variant
of
Important
human legs
to enter
eight
eight
Important
a variant
of
to enclose
cover, crown
ice
table
wind
container,
Important
open box
4/37
30/05/2015
knife, sword
knife, sword
a variant
of
Important
power
to wrap
spoon
box
to conceal,
hide
ten
oracle
stamp, seal
cli
private,
again, right
mouth
mouth
3
3
Important
Katakana Mu
hand
a variant
Important
5/37
30/05/2015
of
border,
Important
territorial
boundaries
earth
earth
a variant
of
Important
man, scholar,
man, scholar,
a variant
samurai
of
samurai
to follow
to go slowly
evening
large, big
woman
woman
a variant
of
Important
6/37
30/05/2015
child, son
child, son
a variant
of
Important
roof, house
inch, (2.25
inch, (2.25
Important
cm)
cm)
a variant
of
small
small
a variant
of
lame leg
corpse,
sprout
mountain
mountain
awning
a variant
of
7/37
30/05/2015
mountain
a variant
of
winding river
river
a variant
of
work,
carpenter,
skill
work,
a variant
carpenter,
of
skill
self
cloth
cloth
a variant
of
to dry, shield
young, slight
slanting roof
to move,
Important
stretch
8/37
30/05/2015
folded hands
javelin
bow in
bow in
archery
archery
a variant
of
pigs head
pigs head
a variant
of
pigs head
a variant
of
hair-style,
step, stride,
street, to go
grass
a variant
of
light rays
Important
Important
road, walk, to
advance
a variant
of
Important
9/37
30/05/2015
village,
country, city
a variant
of
Important
hill, mound
a variant
of
Important
Katakana Tsu
heart, mind,
a variant
spirit
of
Important
hand
a variant
of
Important
water
a variant
of
Important
beast
a variant
of
Important
heart, mind,
heart, mind,
spirit
spirit
a variant
of
spear,
weapon
10/37
30/05/2015
door
door
a variant
of
hand
branch
activity, to
activity, to
strike, hit
strike, hit
a variant
of
Important
literature,
big dipper,
axe
direction, ag
direction, ag
letters
ladle, 18 liters
a variant
of
not
sun, day, time
11/37
30/05/2015
sun, day, time
a variant
of
Important
to say
moon, month,
moon, month,
period
period
a variant
of
meat, esh
a variant
of
Important
tree, wood
tree, wood
a variant
of
Important
to lack, yawn
to stop
death &
dying, to
decompose
death &
a variant
dying, to
of
decompose
12/37
30/05/2015
lance shaft,
not, mother
to compare
hair
family, clan
steam, air
water
re
re
action
a variant
of
Important
re
a variant
of
Important
claw, nail
claw, nail
a variant
of
claw, nail
a variant
of
13/37
30/05/2015
father
to mix
split wood
split wood
split wood
a variant
of
fang, canine
cow
cow
tooth
a variant
of
dog
jewelry,
jeweled king
a variant
of
Important
altar, festival,
a variant
religious
of
service
net
Important
a variant
of
14/37
30/05/2015
old, old-age
a variant
of
darkness
jewelry
melon
tile
sweet
birth, to be
to use
rice paddy
rice paddy
born, live
a variant
of
bolt of cloth
bolt of cloth
a variant
of
sickness
outspread
Important
15/37
30/05/2015
legs,
departure
5
white
white
a variant
of
skin, hide
plate, bowl
eye
eye
a variant
of
Important
eye
a variant
of
halberd
halberd
a variant
of
arrow
arrow
a variant
of
16/37
30/05/2015
stone
stone
a variant
of
altar, festival,
religious
service
footprint
grain
hole, cave
hole, cave
a variant
of
Important
Important
to stand
to stand
a variant
of
fang, canine
tooth
a variant
of
fang, canine
tooth
a variant
of
17/37
30/05/2015
water
a variant
of
net
a variant
of
net
a variant
of
clothing
a variant
of
Important
not
a variant
of
bamboo
bamboo
a variant
of
Important
rice
rice
a variant
of
Important
thread
18/37
30/05/2015
thread
a variant
of
Important
earthen jar
net
sheep
sheep
a variant
of
feather, wing
feather, wing
a variant
of
old, old-age
and also
plow
ear
ear
a variant
of
writing brush
19/37
30/05/2015
esh, meat
retainer,
self
to arrive,
to arrive,
minister
reach
reach
a variant
of
mortar, quern
tongue
contrary, to
ship, boat
ship, boat
err
a variant
of
boundary
color
grass, plant
tiger
20/37
30/05/2015
worm, insect,
worm, insect,
bug
bug
a variant
of
Important
blood
to go
clothing
cover, west
cover, west
Important
a variant
of
melon
a variant
of
to see
horn, corner
horn, corner
a variant
of
7
words, to
speak, say
words, to
a variant
Important
21/37
30/05/2015
speak, say
of
valley
valley
a variant
of
bean
bean
a variant
of
pig
badger
shell,
property,
wealth
shell,
a variant
property,
of
wealth
red
to run
to run
a variant
of
Important
Important
22/37
30/05/2015
foot, leg
foot, leg
a variant
of
Important
body
body
a variant
of
vehicle,
vehicle,
wheel, car
wheel, car
a variant
of
Important
bitter
Fifth zodiac
to advance,
community
sake jar, bird
sake jar, bird
sign, 79 A.M.
move ahead
a variant
of
23/37
30/05/2015
to separate
to separate
a variant
of
village, (3.93
village, (3.93
km)
km)
a variant
of
retainer,
minister
a variant
of
contrary, to
err
a variant
of
wheat
a variant
of
metal, gold,
metal, gold,
mineral
mineral
a variant
of
Important
long
24/37
30/05/2015
gate, door
hill
to capture
small bird
rain
rain
a variant
of
Important
Important
8
8
blue, green
blue, green
a variant
of
8
8
wrong, non-
food, to eat
a variant
of
alike
a variant
of
9
9
face, surface
leather
25/37
30/05/2015
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
10
10
leather
leek
sound, noise
head, page
wind
to y
food, to eat
head
scent
horse
horse
Important
a variant
of
10
10
bone
bone
a variant
of
10
10
high
long hair
26/37
30/05/2015
10
10
10
10
10
ghting
herbs
tripod
demon
leather
a variant
of
11
11
sh
sh
a variant
of
Important
11
11
11
11
11
11
bird
salt
deer
wheat
hemp
hemp
a variant
of
11
yellow
a variant
of
27/37
30/05/2015
11
black
a variant
of
11
turtle
a variant
of
12
12
12
12
12
yellow
millet
black
embroider
tooth
a variant
of
13
13
13
13
14
14
15
frog
tripod
drum
rat, mouse
nose
alike
tooth
28/37
30/05/2015
16
16
17
dragon
turtle
ute
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), Taishkan, and Andrew N. Nelson, The Original Modern Readers Japanese-English Character
Dictionary: Classic Edition, 2nd. ed. (1974), Tuttle Publishing. The Japanese names for the radicals are
based on1989, .
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 nd this very helpful for those starting to learn kanji.
iji
August 20, 2013 at 5:55 am
I dont understand where you use 5 strokes for water. In Kanji Alive Web Interface, water has 4 strokes.
water45
29/37
30/05/2015
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 cant display some of the radicals (such as , 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 oer two
suggestions:
The rst is to switch to Microsofts 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
cant be displayed in Meiryo either.
To address this, you could install the free Mplus outline fonts. These will denitely include support for
the radicals used in Kanji alive. We didnt provide instructions for doing this on our website since the
process is potentially a little more complicated but if youre interested in using Mplus we would be more
than happy to assist you.
30/37
30/05/2015
iji
August 27, 2013 at 4:24 pm
Thank you very much. I wasnt 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 dont think its 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 its 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 dont know the
meaning of them. For example, ()()()()(Ashita watashi wa
nihon he ikimasu. I am going to Japan tomorrow) So you need to learn Hiragana rst.
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. (Hashi no hashi de hashi o kau)
This sentence is written in Hiragana only. You can see three times in this sentence. There are
31/37
30/05/2015
many dierent words with the same pronunciation in Japanese. Each has a dierent meaning. But
when you see the sentence in Hiragana, you cant know which meaning the words in Hiragana have.
However, when this sentence is written in kanji and Hiragana, the meanings are clear.
hashimeans a bridge, hashimeans an end or edge and ( 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 eectively on this fun journey!
Steve P
October 25, 2013 at 2:27 am
Thats a great response! I am taking an beginning japanese course now, and I am about 98% condent
in my hiragana (theres 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, doesnt 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 its 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, Im very sorry we didnt respond to your comment in a timely manner it somehow slipped our
attention.
32/37
30/05/2015
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
Im 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 dierent ways. Lets 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 apps window and youll 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 youll 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 youll 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 youre seeing. If it does not, please email us at
33/37
30/05/2015
kanjialive@gmail.com with a description of the search term you used to produce your earlier results
and well try to make sense of whats 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 dont seem to nd the stroke order of these radicals, where could I nd 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. Im not aware of an online resource with this information,
though I am condent 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 dierent 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, Im going to do what you
suggested and look up for kanjis that have the radicals that Im looking for, in order to get their stroke
34/37
30/05/2015
order, again, thanks!
Laeark
April 22, 2015 at 8:25 am
Hi, i just want to tell to the author that i nd this page the most useful and best explained about the
japanese radicals ( ).
Arno Bosse
Post author
April 24, 2015 at 10:46 pm
Thank you! Were glad youve found it to be a useful resource.
May 3, 2015 at 6:04 am
Just nished Elementary Japanese II at the University of Tennessee. I only have about a hundred kanji,
so far, but I am pretty good at itso far:) This is a very helpful site 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. Its no more
of a struggle than trying to remember the vocabulary, particles, the many conjugations of verbs,
adjectives, nouns, etcnot to the sentence forms!! And the listening!! WowIve given up wondering
why the sounds of the language dont match the romaji.just go with the ow. as stigi (pardon
my improve) or () as shtoo (again, pardon the improve. Sorry, getting o on a lot of tangents!
Wonderful and VERY useful site!!!
Leena
May 22, 2015 at 11:46 pm
35/37
30/05/2015
Hi, I am just a beginner in Japanese. For the rst months Ive learned both Hiragana and Katakana and
the basics in speaking but I think now its the time for me to nally learn kanji ;) I think this site will be
very useful for me but I have a question. Id like to learn all the radicals that are here before going any
further but Im confused about the on and kun-readings Ive heard of. So here are given only the kunreadings? shouldnt we learn them both with one kanji or not?
Kanji alive
May 25, 2015 at 5:31 pm
Hi Leena, radicals dont 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, its 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, its 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!! Its 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 youre very welcome.

36/37
30/05/2015
37/37

The 214 Traditional Kanji Radicals and Their Meanings

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

The 214 Traditional Kanji Radicals and Their Meanings

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

30/05/2015

The 214 traditional kanji radicals and their

Radicals on the left side of the kanji

Radicals on the right

Radicals on the top

Radicals on the bottom

Radicals which enclose the kanji

Radicals which "hang down"

Radicals which wrap around the bottom of a character

Guide for additional search options.

sun, day, time

sun, day, time

sake jar, bird

sake jar, bird

23 thoughts on The 214 traditional kanji radicals and their variants

August 21, 2014 at 7:25 pm

order, again, thanks!

April 24, 2015 at 10:46 pm

Thank you! Were glad youve found it to be a useful resource.

May 3, 2015 at 6:04 am

And thank you youre very welcome.

You might also like