Japanese Kanji: What They Are and How to Learn Them

Kanji are the Chinese-origin characters of written Japanese — each one carries meaning, not just sound. Japanese uses about 2,000 of them in everyday life (the official jōyō list has 2,136), alongside the two phonetic scripts, hiragana and katakana.

The number sounds enormous, but frequency is wildly skewed: the 100 most common kanji cover roughly half of everyday text, and they are all in the chart below. Learn those and real Japanese starts opening up within weeks, not years.

What kanji characters actually are

Japanese writing mixes three scripts in the same sentence, each with a different job. The kana spell sounds: hiragana carries grammar, katakana carries loanwords. Kanji carry the meaning — 水 is water, 日 is day or sun, 食 is eating. A typical sentence uses kanji for its content words and kana for everything holding them together: 水を飲みます — "I drink water" — is one kanji of meaning (水, water), one more inside the verb (飲, drink), and kana doing the grammar.

That is why kanji are not an alphabet, and not exactly "symbols" either: they are logographs. There is no fixed letter-to-sound rule; instead, each character contributes meaning to the words it forms, and the pronunciation comes from the word itself. It is a genuinely different system from anything European — which is precisely why it is the part of Japanese with a reputation. (An earned one, but a beatable one — see is Japanese hard to learn?)

Kanji chart: the 100 most common characters

Ordered by how often each character appears in real Japanese, from our dictionary's frequency data — which makes this chart a genuine study plan, not just a poster. Work top to bottom; every character links to its full dictionary page with stroke order, readings, and the words it appears in.

The 100 most common Japanese kanji ordered by frequency, with meanings, readings, and stroke counts
#	Kanji	Meaning	On'yomi	Kun'yomi	Strokes
1	日	day, sun, Japan	ニチ	ひ	4
2	一	one, one radical (no.1)	イチ	ひと-	1
3	国	country	コク	くに	8
4	会	meeting, meet, party	カイ	あ.う	6
5	人	person	ジン	ひと	2
6	年	year, counter for years	ネン	とし	6
7	大	large, big	ダイ	おお-	3
8	十	ten	ジュウ	とお	2
9	二	two, two radical (no.2)	ニ	ふた	2
10	本	book, present, main	ホン	もと	5
11	中	in, inside, middle	チュウ	なか	4
12	長	long, leader	チョウ	なが.い	8
13	出	exit, leave, go out	シュツ	で.る	5
14	三	three	サン	み	3
15	同	same, agree, equal	ドウ	おな.じ	6
16	時	time, hour	ジ	とき	10
17	政	politics, government	セイ	まつりごと	9
18	事	matter, thing, fact	ジ	こと	8
19	自	oneself	ジ	みずか.ら	6
20	行	going, journey	コウ	い.く	6
21	社	company, firm, office	シャ	やしろ	7
22	見	see, hopes, chances	ケン	み.る	7
23	月	month, moon	ゲツ	つき	4
24	分	part, minute of time, segment	ブン	わ.ける	4
25	議	deliberation, consultation, debate	ギ		20
26	後	behind, back, later	ゴ	のち	9
27	前	in front, before	ゼン	まえ	9
28	民	people, nation, subjects	ミン	たみ	5
29	生	life, genuine, birth	セイ	い.きる	5
30	連	take along, lead, join	レン	つら.なる	10
31	五	five	ゴ	いつ	4
32	発	departure, discharge, publish	ハツ	た.つ	9
33	間	interval, space	カン	あいだ	12
34	対	vis-a-vis, opposite, even	タイ	あいて	7
35	上	above, up	ジョウ	うえ	3
36	部	section, bureau, dept	ブ	-べ	11
37	東	east	トウ	ひがし	8
38	者	someone, person	シャ	もの	8
39	党	party, faction, clique	トウ	なかま	10
40	地	ground, earth	チ		6
41	合	fit, suit, join	ゴウ	あ.う	6
42	市	market, city, town	シ	いち	5
43	業	business, vocation, arts	ギョウ	わざ	13
44	内	inside, within, between	ナイ	うち	4
45	相	inter-, mutual, together	ソウ	あい-	9
46	方	direction, person, alternative	ホウ	かた	4
47	四	four	シ	よ	5
48	定	determine, fix, establish	テイ	さだ.める	8
49	今	now	コン	いま	4
50	回	-times, round, game	カイ	まわ.る	6
51	新	new	シン	あたら.しい	13
52	場	location, place	ジョウ	ば	12
53	金	gold	キン	かね	8
54	員	employee, member, number	イン		10
55	九	nine	キュウ	ここの	2
56	入	enter, insert	ニュウ	い.る	2
57	選	elect, select, choose	セン	えら.ぶ	15
58	立	stand up, rise, set up	リツ	た.つ	5
59	開	open, unfold, unseal	カイ	ひら.く	12
60	手	hand	シュ	て	4
61	米	rice, USA, metre	ベイ	こめ	6
62	力	power, strength, strong	リョク	ちから	2
63	学	study, learning, science	ガク	まな.ぶ	8
64	問	question, ask, problem	モン	と.う	11
65	高	tall, high, expensive	コウ	たか.い	10
66	代	substitute, change, convert	ダイ	か.わる	5
67	明	bright, light	メイ	あ.かり	8
68	実	reality, truth	ジツ	み	8
69	円	circle, yen, round	エン	まる.い	4
70	関	connection, barrier, gateway	カン	せき	14
71	決	decide, fix, agree upon	ケツ	き.める	7
72	子	child, sign of the rat, 11PM-1AM	シ	こ	3
73	動	move, motion, change	ドウ	うご.く	11
74	京	capital, 10**16	キョウ	みやこ	8
75	全	whole, entire, all	ゼン	まった.く	6
76	目	eye, class, look	モク	め	5
77	表	surface, table, chart	ヒョウ	おもて	8
78	戦	war, battle, match	セン	いくさ	13
79	経	sutra, longitude, pass thru	ケイ	へ.る	11
80	通	traffic, pass through, avenue	ツウ	とお.る	10
81	外	outside	ガイ	そと	5
82	最	utmost, most, extreme	サイ	もっと.も	12
83	言	say	ゲン	い.う	7
84	氏	family name, surname, clan	シ	うじ	4
85	現	present, existing, actual	ゲン	あらわ.れる	11
86	理	logic, arrangement, reason	リ	ことわり	11
87	調	tune, tone, meter	チョウ	しら.べる	15
88	体	body, substance, object	タイ	からだ	7
89	化	change, take the form of, influence	カ	ば.ける	4
90	田	rice field, rice paddy	デン	た	5
91	当	hit, right, appropriate	トウ	あ.たる	6
92	八	eight, eight radical (no. 12)	ハチ	や	2
93	六	six	ロク	む	4
94	約	promise, approximately, shrink	ヤク	つづ.まる	9
95	主	lord, chief, master	シュ	ぬし	5
96	題	topic, subject	ダイ		18
97	下	below, down, descend	カ	した	3
98	首	neck, counter for songs and poems	シュ	くび	9
99	意	idea, mind, heart	イ		13
100	法	method, law, rule	ホウ	のり	8

Want more? Browse the full set in the kanji dictionary, or take it level by level with the JLPT N5 kanji list.

How kanji readings work: on'yomi and kun'yomi

The single most confusing thing about kanji, up front: most characters have two kinds of reading. The on'yomi is the reading borrowed from Chinese, and it usually appears in compound words: 水曜日 (suiyōbi, Wednesday) uses 水's on'yomi sui. The kun'yomi is the native Japanese reading, usually used when the character stands alone: 水 by itself is mizu.

The trap is trying to memorise reading lists per character. Don't. Learn words — 水, 水曜日, 水泳 — and the readings organise themselves, because your brain stores them the way native speakers do: attached to vocabulary, not to tables.

Kanji are built, not drawn

A 15-stroke character is not 15 random lines — kanji are assembled from a smaller set of reusable components called radicals. 休 (rest) is a person (亻) leaning against a tree (木). Once you start seeing the components, complex characters stop being noise and start being combinations — and your memory for them improves dramatically. Stroke order matters less than beginners fear, but the component structure is worth learning early.

Kanji and the JLPT

If you want the 2,000 characters cut into milestones, the JLPT levels do it for you: roughly a hundred kanji at N5, growing level by level to over a thousand at N1. We publish the complete list for every level, frequency-ordered and free — start with the N5 kanji list. For what the climb costs in study hours, see how long it takes to learn Japanese.

How to learn kanji without losing years

Frequency order, always. The chart above is the first month of a sane plan. Grade-school order and stroke-count order both waste your early effort on characters you will rarely meet.
Words, not isolated characters. A kanji met inside three real words sticks; a kanji memorised as an English keyword does not. Vocabulary is the vehicle.
Daily spaced repetition. Two thousand characters is a retention problem, and spaced repetition is the only method that scales to it — fifteen minutes a day, scheduled for you, forever beats weekend cramming.
Kana first. If you cannot yet read hiragana and katakana without thinking, do that first — every kanji reading is written in kana.
Accept the timeline. Everyday literacy is a multi-year accumulation, and that is normal. The learners who get there are the consistent ones, not the talented ones — the same conclusion as our guide to the best way to learn Japanese.

Learn kanji the way that actually sticks

Nihongo Master teaches kanji exactly as this page recommends: frequency-first, inside real vocabulary, on an ordered path from N5 through N1, with spaced-repetition drills that decide what you review each day and an AI teacher for the readings that refuse to stick.

There is a free tier and a 7-day trial, so you can start today without a credit card.

Start learning free →

Frequently asked questions

What are kanji?

Kanji are the Chinese-origin characters used in written Japanese. Unlike hiragana and katakana, which represent sounds, each kanji carries meaning — 水 means water, 日 means day or sun. Written Japanese mixes all three scripts in the same sentence: kanji for the content words, kana for grammar and foreign words.

How many kanji do I need to know?

About 2,000. Japan's official jōyō list has 2,136 characters, which covers newspapers, business, and everyday reading. But frequency is heavily skewed: the 100 most common kanji cover roughly half of everyday text, and the first 500 cover the large majority. You are functional far earlier than the headline number suggests.

Are kanji symbols, letters, or words?

None of the three exactly. Kanji are logographic characters: each one represents a meaning (and often works as a word on its own), but most Japanese words combine two or more kanji, or a kanji plus kana endings. They are not an alphabet — there is no fixed sound per character, which is why each kanji has multiple readings.

What is the difference between on'yomi and kun'yomi?

On'yomi is a kanji's Chinese-derived reading, typically used in compound words (水曜日, suiyōbi). Kun'yomi is the native Japanese reading, typically used when the kanji stands alone (水, mizu). Most kanji have at least one of each, and context decides which applies — you learn the readings through vocabulary, not by memorising the lists.

Do I need kanji to speak Japanese?

To speak, no — spoken Japanese works fine without ever seeing a character. To read almost anything real (menus, signs, messages, websites), yes. Most learners study kanji alongside speaking from early on, because reading unlocks vastly more input.

What is the best way to learn kanji?

Frequency order, inside real vocabulary, reviewed daily with spaced repetition. Learn the most common characters first (they pay off immediately), learn each one through the words it appears in rather than as an isolated meaning, and let a spaced-repetition system schedule the reviews so nothing silently fades.

Free Japanese learning resources

Everything you need to start — no account required.