The 214 Traditional Kanji Radicals and Their Meanings

8/9/2019 The 214 Traditional Kanji Radicals and Their Meanings

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Kanji aliveA free study tool for reading and writing kanji

The 214 traditional kanji radicals and theirvariants

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 dierent. 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 ocial Japanese names for radicals. But there are certain commonly-used names. That is

why you will ᱄nd 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) Radicals on the left side of the kanji

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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 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 you’d like a copy of the radicals tables in a format better suited for printing or if you’d like to re-

use 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.

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Search:

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.

1⼀

one,

horizontal

stroke

いち

1⼁

vertical stroke たてぼう

1⼂

dot てん

1⼃

diagonal

sweeping

stroke

の

1

diagonal

sweeping

stroke

のかんむり a variant

of ⼃

（の）

1⼄

the second おつ

1⺃

the second おつ a variant

of ⼄（お

つ）

1⼅

vertical stroke

with a hook

はねぼう

2⼆

two に

STROKE# RADICAL POSITION MEANING READING NOTES IMPORTANCE

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2⼇

lid, top なべぶた Important

2⼈

person ひと

2⺅

person にんべん a variant

of ⼈

（ひと）

Important

2

person ひとやね a variant

of ⼈（ひ

と）

Important

2⼉

human legs ひとあし Important

2⼊

to enter いる

2⼋

eight はち

2

eight はちがしら a variant

of ⼋（は

ち）

2⼌

to enclose けいがまえ

2⼍

cover, crown わかんむり Important

2⼎

ice にすい

2⼏

table きにょう

2⺇

wind かぜかんむ

り

2⼐

container,

open box

かんにょう

http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-


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2⼑

knife, sword かたな

2⺉

knife, sword りっとう a variant

of ⼑（か

たな）

Important

2⼒

power ちから

2⼓

to wrap つつみがま

え

2⼔

spoon さじ

2⼕

box はこがまえ

2⼖

to conceal,

hide

かくしがま

え

2⼗

ten じゅう

2⼘

oracle ぼく

2⼙

stamp, seal ふしづくり

2⼚

cli がんだれ Important

2⼛

private,

Katakana Mu

む

2⼜

again, right

hand

また

3⼝

mouth くち

3 mouth くちへん a variant Important

http://-/?-http://-/?-


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of ⼝（く

ち）

3⼞

border,

territorial

boundaries

くにがまえ Important

3⼟

earth つち

3

earth つちへん a variant

of ⼟（つ

ち）

Important

3⼠

man, scholar,

samurai

さむらい

3

man, scholar,

samurai

さむらいか

んむり

a variant

of 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 ⼥（お

んな）

Important

http://-/?-http://-/?-


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3⼦

child, son こ

3

child, son こへん a variant

of ⼦

（こ）

Important

3⼧

roof, house うかんむり Important

3⼨

inch, (2.25

cm)

すん

3

inch, (2.25

cm)

すんづくり a variant

of ⼨（す

ん）

3⼩

small しょう

3⺌

small しょうかん

むり

a variant

of ⼩（し

ょう）

3⺐

lame leg だいのまげ

あし

3⼫

corpse,

awning

しかばね

3⼬

sprout くさのめ

3⼭

mountain やま

3

mountain やまへん a variant

of ⼭（や

ま）

http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-


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3

mountain やまかんむ

り

a variant

of ⼭（や

ま）

3⼮

winding river まがりがわ

3川

river さんぼんが

わ

a variant

of ⼮（ま

がりがわ）

3⼯

work,

carpenter,

skill

たくみ

3

work,

carpenter,

skill

たくみへん a variant

of ⼯（た

くみ）

3⼰

self おのれ

3⼱

cloth はば

3

cloth はばへん 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 Important

3⼵

to move,

stretch

えんにょう



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3⼶

folded hands にじゅうあ

し

3⼷

javelin いぐるみ

3⼸

bow（in

archery）

ゆみ

3

bow（in

archery）

ゆみへん 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⼺

hair-style,

light rays

さんづくり

3⼻

step, stride,

street, to go

ぎょうにん

べん

Important

3⺾

grass くさかんむ

り

a variant

of ⾋（く

さ）

Important

3⻌

road, walk, to

advance

しんにょう a variant

of ⾡（し

んにょう）

Important

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3⻏

village,

country, city

おおざと a variant

of ⾢（む

ら）

Important

3⻖

hill, mound こざとへん a variant

of ⾩

（こ

ざと）

Important

3⺍

Katakana Tsu つ

3⺖

heart, mind,

spirit

りっしんべ

ん

a variant

of ⼼（こ

ころ）

Important

3⺘

hand てへん a variant

of ⼿

（て）

Important

3⺡

water さんずい a variant

of ⽔（み

ず）

Important

3⺨

beast けものへん a variant

of ⽝（い

ぬ）

Important

4⼼

heart, mind,

spirit

こころ

4⺗

heart, mind,

spirit

したごころ a variant

of ⼼（こ

ころ）

4⼽

spear,

weapon

ほこ

http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-


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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

strike, hit

ぼくづくり

4⺙

activity, to

strike, hit

ぼくづくり a variant

of ⽁（ぼ

くづくり）

Important

4⽂

literature,

letters

ぶん

4⽃

big dipper,

ladle, 18 liters

ますづくり

4⽄

axe おのづくり

4⽅

direction, ᱜag ほう

4

direction, ᱜag ほうへん a variant

of ⽅（ほ

う）

4⽆

not むにょう

4⽇

sun, day, time ひ

http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-


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4

sun, day, time ひへん a variant

of ⽇

（ひ）

Important

4⽈

to say ひらび

4⽉

moon, month,

period

つき

4⺝

moon, month,

period

つきへん a variant

of ⽉（つ

き）

4 meat, ᱜesh にくづき a variant

of ⾁（に

く）

Important

4⽊

tree, wood き

4

tree, wood きへん a variant

of ⽊

（き）

Important

4⽋

to lack, yawn あくび

4⽌

to stop とめる

4⽍

death &

dying, to

decompose

がつ

4

death &

dying, to

decompose

がつへん a variant

of ⽍（が

つ）



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4⽎

lance shaft,

action

るまた

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 a variant

of ⽕

（ひ）

Important

4⺣

᱄re れっか a variant

of ⽕

（ひ）

Important

4⽖

claw, nail つめ

4⺤

claw, nail つめかんむ

り

a variant

of ⽖（つ

め）

4爫

claw, nail つめかんむ

り

a variant

of ⽖（つ

め）



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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）

4

fang, canine

tooth

きば

4⽜

cow うし

4

cow うしへん a variant

of ⽜（う

し）

4⽝

dog いぬ

4

jewelry,

jeweled king

おうへん a variant

of ⽟（た

ま）

Important

4⺭

altar, festival,

religious

service

しめすへん a variant

of ⽰（し

めす）

Important

4㓁

net あみがしら a variant

of ⽹（あ

み）



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4⺹

old, old-age おいかんむ

り

a variant

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

born, live

うまれる

5⽤

to use もちいる

5 ⽥ rice paddy た

5

rice paddy たへん 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 Important

5⽨

outspread はつがしら

http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-


16/37

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 ⽬

（め）

Important

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

（や）



17/37

5⽯

stone いし

5

stone いしへん a variant

of ⽯（い

し）

5⽰

altar, festival,

religious

service

しめす

5⽱

footprint じゅうのあ

し

5⽲

grain のぎへん Important

5⽳

hole, cave あな

5

hole, cave あなかんむ

り

a variant

of ⽳（あ

な）

Important

5⽴

to stand たつ

5

to stand たつへん a variant

of ⽴（た

つ）

5

fang, canine

tooth

きば a variant

of （き

ば）

5

fang, canine

tooth

きばへん a variant

of ⽛（き

ば）



18/37

5氺

water したみず a variant

of ⽔（み

ず）

5⺫


of ⽹（あ

み）

5☧


of ⽹（あ

み）

5⻂

clothing ころもへん a variant

of ⾐（こ

ろも）

Important

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

り

a variant

of ⽵（た

け）

Important

6⽶

rice こめ

6

rice こめへん a variant

of ⽶（こ

め）

Important

6⽷

thread いと



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6

thread いとへん a variant

of ⽷（い

と）

Important

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 ⽼ old, old-age おいかんむ

り

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 a variant

of ⽿（み

み）

6⾀

writing brush ふでづくり



20/37

6⾁

ᱜesh, meat にく

6⾂

retainer,

minister

しん

6⾃

self みずから

6⾄

to arrive,

reach

いたる

6

to arrive,

reach

いたるへん a variant

of ⾄（い

たる）

6⾅

mortar, quern うす

6⾆

tongue した

6⾇

contrary, to

err

まいあし

6⾈

ship, boat ふね

6

ship, boat ふねへん 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⾍

worm, insect,

bug

むし

6

worm, insect,

bug

むしへん a variant

of ⾍（む

し）

Important

6⾎

blood ち

6⾏

to go ぎょうがま

え

Important

6⾐

clothing ころも

6⾑

cover, west にし

6⻃

cover, west にし 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

words, to

speak, say

げん

7 words, to ごんべん a variant Important



22/37

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,property,

wealth

かい

7

shell,

property,

wealth

かいへん a variant

of ⾙（か

い）

Important

7⾚

red あか

7⾛

to run はしる

7

to run そうにょう a variant

of ⾛（は

しる）

Important



23/37

7⾜

foot, leg あし

7⻊

foot, leg あしへん a variant

of ⾜（あ

し）

Important

7⾝

body み

7

body みへん a variant

of ⾝

（み）

7⾞

vehicle,

wheel, car

くるま

7

vehicle,

wheel, car

くるまへん a variant

of ⾞（く

るま）

Important

7⾟

bitter からい

7⾠

Fifth zodiac

sign, 7–9 A.M.

しんのたつ

7⾡

to advance,

move ahead

しんにょう

7⾢

community むら

7⾣

sake jar, bird ひよみのと

り

7

sake jar, bird とりへん a variant

of ⾣（ひ

よみのと



24/37

り）

7⾤

to separate のごめ

7

to separate のごめへん a variant

of ⾤（の

ごめ）

7⾥

village, (3.93

km)

さと

7

village, (3.93

km)

さとへん a variant

of ⾥（さ

と）

7⾂

retainer,

minister

しん a variant

of ⾂（し

ん）

7

contrary, to

err

まいあし a variant

of ⾇（ま

いあし）

7⻨

wheat むぎ a variant

of ⿆（む

ぎ）

8⾦

metal, gold,

mineral

かね

8

metal, gold,

mineral

かねへん a variant

of ⾦（か

ね）

Important

8⻑

long ながい



25/37

8⾨

gate, door もんがまえ Important

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

り

a variant

of ⾬（あ

め）

Important

8⾭

blue, green あお

8⻘

blue, green あお a variant

of ⾭（あ

お）

8⾮

wrong, non- あらず

8⻟

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⾯

face, surface めん

9⾰

leather つくりがわ



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9

leather なめしがわ

9⾲

leek にら

9⾳

sound, noise おと

9⾴

head, page おおがい Important

9⾵

wind かぜ

9⾶

to ᱜy とぶ

9⾷

food, to eat しょく

9⾸

head くび

9⾹

scent かおり

10⾺

horse うま

10

horse うまへん a variant

of ⾺（う

ま）

10⾻

bone ほね

10

bone ほねへん a variant

of ⾻（ほ

ね）

10⾼

high たかい

10⾽

long hair かみかんむ

り

http://-/?-http://-/?-


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10⾾

᱄ghting たたかいが

まえ

10⾿

herbs においざけ

10⿀

tripod れき

10⿁

demon おに

10⾱

leather なめしがわ a variant

of （な

めしがわ）

11⿂

᱄sh うお

11

᱄sh うおへん a variant

of ⿂（う

お）

Important

11⿃

bird とり

11⿄

salt しお

11⿅

deer しか

11⿆

wheat むぎ

11⿇

hemp あさ

11

hemp あさかんむ

り

a variant

of ⿇（あ

さ）

11⻩

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⿈

yellow き

12⿉

millet きび

12⿊

black くろ

12⿋

embroider ぬいとり

12⻭

tooth は a variant

of ⿒

（は）

13⿌

frog かえる

13⿍

tripod かなえ

13⿎

drum つづみ

13⿏

rat, mouse ねずみ

14⿐

nose はな

14⿑

alike せい

15⿒

tooth は



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16⿓

dragon りゅう

16⿔

turtle かめ

17⿕

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”

Complete and clear, I ᱄nd this very helpful for those starting to learn kanji.

Alex

August 2, 2013 at 9:33 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

ijiAugust 20, 2013 at 5:55 am


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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.

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?

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 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.

hlory

August 20, 2013 at 10:12 am

iji

August 26, 2013 at 9:31 am

Arno Bosse

August 26, 2013 at 10:11 am

http://mplus-fonts.osdn.jp/mplus-outline-fonts/index-en.htmlhttp://kanjialive.com/2013/04/selecting-a-better-japanese-font-for-windows-web-browsers/


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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.

ijiAugust 27, 2013 at 4:24 pm

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. :)

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

PheDzSeptember 13, 2013 at 1:59 am

hlory

September 20, 2013 at 8:27 pm


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many dierent words with the same pronunciation in Japanese. Eachはし has a dierent 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 eectively on this fun journey!

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?

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?

Hi Rehn, I’m very sorry we didn’t respond to your comment in a timely manner – it somehow slipped our

attention.

Steve P

October 25, 2013 at 2:27 am

Rehn

April 29, 2014 at 2:58 am

Harumi Lory

August 21, 2014 at 7:25 pm

Post author

http://kanjialive.com/


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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.

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.

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. 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 byradical 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

Jac kDecember 14, 2014 at 7:21 pm

Arno Bosse

December 14, 2014 at 7:44 pm

http://kanjialive.com/user-guide/#resultshttp://app.kanjialive.com/http://kanjialive.com/214-traditional-kanji-radicals/http://app.kanjialive.com/


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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.

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?

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 dierent ways to search for kanji by radical using the Kanji

alive web app. I hope this helps!

Iuri

January 15, 2015 at 3:44 am

Arno Bosse

January 15, 2015 at 2:39 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

Iuri

February 4, 2015 at 4:25 pm

mailto:[email protected]://app.kanjialive.com/


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order, again, thanks!

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.

Thank you! We’re glad you’ve found it to be a useful resource.

Laeark

April 22, 2015 at 8:25 am

Arno Bosse

April 24, 2015 at 10:46 pm

Post author

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 o on a lot of tangents!

Wonderful and VERY useful site!!!

スミス

May 3, 2015 at 6:04 am

LeenaMay 22, 2015 at 11:46 pm

http://kanjialive.com/


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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 kun-

readings? shouldn’t we learn them both with one kanji or not?

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/

Kanji aliveMay 25, 2015 at 5:31 pm

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. :)

And thank you – you’re very welcome.

Diana

May 24, 2015 at 8:19 am

Kanji alive

May 24, 2015 at 8:49 am

http://kanjialive.com/214-traditional-kanji-radicals/http://kanjialive.com/supported-textbooks/


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Documents

The 214 Traditional Kanji Radicals and Their Meanings