Kanji 漢字

Kanji are Chinese characters that took a trip to Japan centuries ago and never left. Over 2,000 kanji are in regular use, each with multiple readings and meanings.

These characters team up with 平仮名 hiragana and 片仮名 katakana to form modern Japanese writing.

In a typical Japanese sentence, 漢字 kanji handle the heavy lifting (main concepts).

アダムはカメラで写真を撮ります。

Adamu wa kamera de shashin o torimasu.

Adam takes photos with his camera.

Historical note:

Both hiragana and katakana were born out of laziness. Hiragana evolved from cursive shorthand of complete kanji, while katakana is basically kanji with most strokes left out.

Essential kanji

Memorize these and you’ll at least know if you’re entering the correct bathroom.

入	enter/entrance
出	exit
男	man
女	woman
大	big/large
小	small
中	middle/in
上	up/above
下	down/below
駅	station
食	food/eat
水	water
火	fire
円	yen
新	new
古	old
魚	fish
肉	meat
門	gate
道	road/way
所	place/facility – often seen on bathroom signs
酒	alcohol