The 214 traditional kanji radicals and their
variants
Kanji are classified 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 (head/neck). There are 214 historical radicals derived from the 18th
centuryKangxi 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 different. 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 official Japanese names for radicals. But there are certain commonly-used
names. That is why you will find differences in the Japanese names for the radicals on different
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)
Radicals on the left side of the kanji
(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 specific stroke number or look for individual radicals by using the
Search field 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 field to search/filter 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 field. To avoid ambiguities amongst the different
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.
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, an open-source font derived from Source Han Sans with 60
custom glyphs which add support for every Japanese radical and variant. The font is freely
available for private or commercial use.
Tip: If youd like a copy of the radicals tables in a format better suited for printing or if youd like
to re-use this data in another application, please visit our open-source repository on GitHub.
Most of the language data and media files used in Kanji alive are freely available under
aCreative Commons CC-BY license.
Search:
STROKE#
RADICAL
POSITION
MEANING
READING
NOTES
one, horizontal stroke
vertical stroke
dot
diagonal sweeping stroke
diagonal sweeping stroke
the second
the second
vertical stroke with a hook
two
lid, top
person
person
a variant of
person
a variant of
human legs
to enter
eight
eight
to enclose
a variant of
a variant of
a variant of
STROKE#
RADICAL
POSITION
MEANING
READING
cover, crown
ice
table
wind
container, open box
knife, sword
knife, sword
power
to wrap
spoon
box
to conceal, hide
ten
oracle
stamp, seal
cliff
private, Katakana Mu
again, right hand
mouth
mouth
border, territorial boundaries
earth
NOTES
a variant of
a variant of
a variant of
STROKE#
RADICAL
POSITION
MEANING
READING
NOTES
earth
a variant of
man, scholar, samurai
man, scholar, samurai
to follow
to go slowly
evening
large, big
woman
woman
child, son
child, son
roof, house
inch, (2.25 cm)
inch, (2.25 cm)
small
small
lame leg
corpse, awning
sprout
mountain
mountain
a variant of
mountain
a variant of
a variant of
a variant of
a variant of
a variant of
a variant of
STROKE#
RADICAL
POSITION
MEANING
READING
NOTES
winding river
river
work, carpenter, skill
work, carpenter, skill
self
cloth
cloth
to dry, shield
young, slight
slanting roof
to move, stretch
folded hands
javelin
bow in archery
bow in archery
pigs head
pigs head
a variant of
pigs head
a variant of
hair-style, light rays
step, stride, street, to go
grass
a variant of
road, walk, to advance
a variant of
a variant of
a variant of
a variant of
a variant of
STROKE#
RADICAL
POSITION
MEANING
READING
NOTES
village, country, city
a variant of
hill, mound
a variant of
Katakana Tsu
heart, mind, spirit
a variant of
hand
a variant of
water
a variant of
beast
a variant of
heart, mind, spirit
heart, mind, spirit
spear, weapon
door
door
hand
branch
activity, to strike, hit
activity, to strike, hit
literature, letters
big dipper, ladle, 18 liters
axe
direction, flag
direction, flag
not
a variant of
a variant of
a variant of
a variant of
STROKE#
RADICAL
POSITION
MEANING
READING
NOTES
sun, day, time
sun, day, time
to say
moon, month, period
moon, month, period
a variant of
meat, flesh
a variant of
tree, wood
tree, wood
to lack, yawn
to stop
death & dying, to decompose
death & dying, to decompose
lance shaft, action
not, mother
to compare
hair
family, clan
steam, air
water
fire
fire
a variant of
fire
a variant of
a variant of
a variant of
a variant of
STROKE#
RADICAL
POSITION
MEANING
READING
NOTES
claw, nail
claw, nail
a variant of
claw, nail
a variant of
father
to mix
split wood
split wood
split wood
fang, canine tooth
cow
cow
dog
jewelry, jeweled king
a variant of
altar, festival, religious service
a variant of
net
a variant of
old, old-age
a variant of
darkness
jewelry
melon
tile
sweet
birth, to be born, live
a variant of
a variant of
STROKE#
RADICAL
POSITION
MEANING
READING
NOTES
to use
rice paddy
rice paddy
bolt of cloth
bolt of cloth
sickness
outspread legs, departure
white
white
skin, hide
plate, bowl
eye
eye
a variant of
eye
a variant of
halberd
halberd
arrow
arrow
stone
stone
altar, festival, religious service
footprint
a variant of
a variant of
a variant of
a variant of
a variant of
a variant of
STROKE#
RADICAL
POSITION
MEANING
READING
NOTES
grain
hole, cave
hole, cave
to stand
to stand
a variant of
fang, canine tooth
a variant of
fang, canine tooth
a variant of
water
a variant of
net
a variant of
net
a variant of
clothing
a variant of
not
a variant of
bamboo
bamboo
rice
rice
thread
thread
earthen jar
net
sheep
sheep
a variant of
a variant of
a variant of
a variant of
a variant of
STROKE#
RADICAL
POSITION
MEANING
READING
feather, wing
feather, wing
old, old-age
and also
plow
ear
ear
writing brush
flesh, meat
retainer, minister
self
to arrive, reach
to arrive, reach
mortar, quern
tongue
contrary, to err
ship, boat
ship, boat
boundary
color
grass, plant
tiger
NOTES
a variant of
a variant of
a variant of
a variant of
STROKE#
RADICAL
POSITION
MEANING
READING
NOTES
worm, insect, bug
worm, insect, bug
blood
to go
clothing
cover, west
cover, west
a variant of
melon
a variant of
to see
horn, corner
horn, corner
words, to speak, say
words, to speak, say
valley
valley
bean
bean
pig
badger
shell, property, wealth
shell, property, wealth
red
a variant of
a variant of
a variant of
a variant of
a variant of
a variant of
STROKE#
RADICAL
POSITION
MEANING
READING
NOTES
to run
to run
foot, leg
foot, leg
body
body
vehicle, wheel, car
vehicle, wheel, car
bitter
Fifth zodiac sign, 79 A.M.
to advance, move ahead
community
sake jar, bird
sake jar, bird
to separate
to separate
village, (3.93 km)
village, (3.93 km)
a variant of
retainer, minister
a variant of
contrary, to err
a variant of
wheat
a variant of
metal, gold, mineral
a variant of
a variant of
a variant of
a variant of
a variant of
a variant of
STROKE#
RADICAL
POSITION
MEANING
READING
NOTES
metal, gold, mineral
a variant of
long
gate, door
hill
to capture
small bird
rain
rain
blue, green
blue, green
wrong, non-
food, to eat
a variant of
alike
a variant of
face, surface
leather
leather
leek
sound, noise
head, page
wind
to fly
food, to eat
a variant of
a variant of
STROKE#
RADICAL
POSITION
MEANING
READING
NOTES
head
scent
10
horse
10
horse
10
bone
10
bone
10
high
10
long hair
10
fighting
10
herbs
10
tripod
10
demon
10
leather
11
fish
11
fish
11
bird
11
salt
11
deer
11
wheat
11
hemp
11
hemp
a variant of
11
yellow
a variant of
a variant of
a variant of
a variant of
a variant of
STROKE#
RADICAL
11
POSITION
MEANING
READING
NOTES
black
a variant of
11
turtle
a variant of
12
yellow
12
millet
12
black
12
embroider
12
tooth
13
frog
13
tripod
13
drum
13
rat, mouse
14
nose
14
alike
15
tooth
16
dragon
16
turtle
17
flute
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 on
1989, .
a variant of
