Learn 214 Traditional Kanji Radicals and Their Meanings

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

their variants
Kanji are classi ᱄ ed 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 di ᱜ erent.
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 o ᱜ cial Japanese names for radicals. But there are certain commonly-used names. That is
why you will ᱄ nd di ᱜ erences in the Japanese names for the radicals on di ᱜ erent 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.
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meanings
へん (hen) Radicals on the left side of the kanji
meanings
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 rem:see to search by English meaning). Please consult our User
and 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 speci ᱄ c stroke number or look for individual radicals by using the “Search”
᱄ 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 table’s own search ᱄ eld to search/᱄ lter 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 ᱄ eld. To avoid ambiguities amongst the di ᱜ erent 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
meanings
below. In its directory you’ll ᱄ nd copies of the table in PDF and CSV formats.
meanings
2 lid, top なべぶた Important
⼇
2 person ひと
⼈
2 person にんべん a variant Important

⺅
of ⼈（ひ
と）
2 person ひとやね a variant Important

‚¢
of ⼈（ひ
と）
2 human legs ひとあし Important

⼉
2 to enter いる
⼊
2 eight はち
⼋
2 eight はちがしら a variant


of ⼋（は
ち）
2 to enclose けいがまえ
⼌
2 cover, crown わかんむり Important

⼍
2 ice にすい
⼎
2 table きにょう
⼏
2 wind かぜかんむ
⺇
り
2 container, かんにょう
⼐
open box
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4/3
2 knife, sword かたな
⼑
2 knife, sword りっとう a variant Important

⺉
of ⼑（か
たな）
2 power ちから
⼒
2 to wrap つつみがま
⼓
え
2 spoon さじ
⼔
2 box はこがまえ
⼕
かくしがま
2 to
⼖え
conceal,
hide
2 ten じゅう
⼗
2 oracle ぼく
⼘
2 stamp, seal ふしづくり

⼙
2 cli ᱜ がんだれ Important

⼚
2 private, む
⼛
Katakana Mu
2 again, right また
⼜
hand
3 mouth くち
⼝
3 mouth くちへん a variant Important

meanings
 of ⼝（く
ち）
3 border, くにがまえ Important

⼞
territorial
boundaries
3 earth つち
⼟
つちへん Important
3 earth a variant

of ⼟（つ
ち）
3 man, scholar, さむらい

⼠
samurai
3 man, scholar, さむらいか a variant


samurai
んむり of ⼠（さ
むらい）
3 to follow のまた
⼡
3 to go slowly なつあし
⼢
3 evening ゆうべ
⼣
3 large, big だい
⼤
3 woman おんな
⼥
おんなへん Important
3 woman a variant

of ⼥（お
んな）
6/3
3 child, son こ
⼦
こへん Important
3 child, son a variant

of ⼦
（こ）
3 roof, house うかんむり Important

⼧
3 inch, (2.25 すん
⼨
cm)
3 inch, (2.25 すんづくり a variant


cm) of ⼨（す
ん）
3 small しょう
⼩
3 small しょうかん a variant

⺌
むり of ⼩（し
ょう）
3 lame leg だいのまげ

⺐
あし
3 corpse, しかばね
⼫
awning
3 sprout くさのめ
⼬
3 mountain やま
⼭
やまへん
3 mountain a variant

of ⼭（や
ま）
meanings
3 mountain やまかんむ a variant

り of ⼭（や
ま）
3 winding river まがりがわ

⼮
3 river さんぼんが a variant

川
わ of ⼮（ま
がりがわ）
3 work, たくみ
⼯
carpenter,
skill
3 work, たくみへん a variant


carpenter, of ⼯（た
skill くみ）
3 self おのれ
⼰
3 cloth はば
⼱
はばへん
3 cloth a variant

of ⼱（は
ば）
3 to dry, かん
⼲
shield
3 young, slight いとがしら

⺓
3 slanting roof まだれ Important

⼴
3 to move, えんにょう
⼵
stretch
8/3
3 folded hands にじゅうあ
⼶
し
3 javelin いぐるみ
⼷
3 bow （in ゆみ
⼸
archery）
3 bow （in ゆみへん a variant


archery） of ⼸（ゆ
み）
3 pig’s head けいがしら

⼹

⺕ a variant
of ⼹（け
いがしら）

⺔ a variant
of ⼹（け
いがしら）
3 hair-style, さんづくり
⼺
light rays
3 step, stride, ぎょうにん Important

⼻
street, to go べん
3 grass くさかんむ a variant Important

⺾
り of ⾋（く
さ）
3 road, walk, to しんにょう a variant Important

⻌
advance of ⾡（し
んにょう）
meanings
3 village, おおざと Important

⻏ a variant
country, city
of ⾢（む
ら）
3 hill, mound こざとへん Important

⻖ a variant
of ⾩（こ
ざと）
3 Katakana Tsu つ
⺍
3 heart, りっしんべ a variant Important

⺖
mind, spirit
ん of ⼼（こ
ころ）
3 hand てへん Important

⺘ a variant
of ⼿
（て）
3 water さんずい Important

⺡ a variant
of ⽔（み
ず）
3 beast けものへん Important

⺨ a variant
of ⽝（い
ぬ）
4 heart, mind, こころ

⼼
spirit
4 heart, mind, したごころ a variant

⺗
spirit of ⼼（こ
ころ）
4 spear, ほこ
⼽
weapon
10/
meanings
4 door と
⼾
とだれ
4 door a variant

of ⼾
（と）
4 hand て
⼿
4 branch しにょう
⽀
4 activity, to ぼくづくり
⽁
strike, hit
ぼくづくり a variant Important

4 activity,
⺙
to strike, of ⽁（ぼ
hit
くづくり）
4 literature, ぶん
⽂
letters
4 big dipper, ますづくり

⽃
ladle, 18 liters
4 axe おのづくり
⽄
4 direction, ᱜ ag ほう
⽅
ほうへん
4 direction, ᱜ ag a variant

of ⽅（ほ
う）
4 not むにょう
⽆
4 sun, day, ひ
⽇
time
11/
4 sun, day, time ひへん a variant Important

of ⽇
（ひ）
4 to say ひらび
⽈
4 moon, month, つき
⽉
period
つきへん
4 moon, month, a variant
⺝
period
of ⽉（つ
き）
にくづき Important
4 meat, ᱜ esh a variant

of ⾁（に
く）
4 tree, wood き
⽊
きへん Important
4 tree, wood a variant

of ⽊
（き）
4 to lack, yawn あくび

⽋
4 to stop とめる
⽌
4 death & がつ
⽍
dying, to
decompose
4 death & がつへん

 a variant
dying, to of ⽍（が
decompose つ）
4 lance shaft, るまた
⽎
action
4 not, mother なかれ

⽏
4 to compare くらべる
⽐
4 hair け
⽑
4 family, clan うじ
⽒
4 steam, air きがまえ

⽓
4 water みず
⽔
4 ᱄ re ひ
⽕
ひへん Important
4 ᱄ re a variant

of ⽕
（ひ）
4 ᱄ re れっか Important
⺣ a variant
of ⽕
（ひ）
4 claw, nail つめ
⽖
4 claw, nail つめかんむ a variant

⺤
り of ⽖（つ
め）
4 claw, nail つめかんむ a variant

爫
り of ⽖（つ
め）
4 father ちち
⽗
4 to mix こう
⽘
4 split wood しょうへん

⽙
4 split wood かた
⽚
かたへん
4 split wood a variant

of ⽚（か
た）
4 fang, canine きば

tooth
4 cow うし
⽜
うしへん
4 cow a variant

of ⽜（う
し）
4 dog いぬ
⽝
おうへん Important
4 jewelry, a variant

jeweled king
of ⽟（た
ま）
4 altar, しめすへん a variant Important

⺭
of ⽰（し
festival,
めす）
religious
service
4 net あみがしら
㓁 a variant
of ⽹（あ
み）
meanings
4 old, old-age おいかんむ a variant
⺹
り of ⽼（お
いかんむ
り）
5 darkness げん
⽞
5 jewelry たま
⽟
5 melon うり

5 tile かわら
⽡
5 sweet あまい
⽢
5 birth, to be うまれる
⽣
born, live
5 to use もちいる
⽤
5 rice paddy た
⽥
5 rice paddy たへん a variant


of ⽥
（た）
5 bolt of cloth ひき
⽦
5 bolt of cloth ひきへん a variant

⺪
of ⽦（ひ
き）
5 sickness やまいだれ Important

⽧
5 outspread はつがしら
⽨
15/
legs,
departure
5 white しろ
⽩
5 white はくへん a variant


of ⽩（し
ろ）
5 skin, hide けがわ

⽪
5 plate, bowl さら
⽫
5 eye め
⽬
5 eye めへん a variant Important


of ⽬
（め）
5 eye よこめ a variant


of ⽬
（め）
5 halberd ほこ
⽭
5 halberd ほこへん a variant


of ⽭（ほ
こ）
5 arrow や
⽮
5 arrow やへん a variant


of ⽮
（や）
5 stone いし
⽯
5 stone いしへん a variant


of ⽯（い
し）
5 altar, festival, しめす

⽰
religious
service
5 footprint じゅうのあ
⽱
し
5 grain のぎへん Important

⽲
5 hole, cave あな
⽳
5 hole, cave あなかんむ a variant Important


り of ⽳（あ
な）
5 to stand たつ
⽴
たつへん
5 to stand a variant

of ⽴（た
つ）
5 fang, canine きば a variant


tooth of （き
ば）
5 fang, canine きばへん a variant


tooth of ⽛（き
ば）
5 water したみず
氺 a variant
of ⽔（み
ず）
5 net あみがしら
⺫ a variant
of ⽹（あ
み）
あみがしら
5 net a variant
☧p
of ⽹（あ
み）
5 clothing ころもへん Important

⻂ a variant
of ⾐（こ
ろも）
5 not むにょう
⺛ a variant
of ⽆（む
にょう）
6 bamboo たけ
⽵
6 bamboo たけかんむ a variant Important

⺮
り of ⽵（た
け）
6 rice こめ
⽶
こめへん Important
6 rice a variant

of ⽶（こ
め）
6 thread いと
⽷
6 thread a variant Important
 いとへん
of ⽷（い
と）
6 earthen jar みずがめ

⽸
6 net あみめ
⽹
6 sheep ひつじ
⽺
6 sheep ひつじ a variant

⺷
of ⽺（ひ
つじ）
6 feather, wing はね
羽
6 feather, wing はね a variant

⽻
of 羽（は
ね）
6 old, old-age おいかんむ

⽼
り
6 and also しこうして

⽽
6 plow らいすき
⽾
6 ear みみ
⽿
6 ear みみへん a variant


of ⽿（み
み）
6 writing brush ふでづくり

⾀
6 ᱜ esh, meat にく
⾁
6 retainer, しん
⾂
minister
6 self みずから
⾃
6 to arrive, いたる
⾄
reach
いたるへん
6 to a variant

arrive,
of ⾄（い
reach
たる）
6 mortar, quern うす
⾅
6 tongue した
⾆
6 contrary, to まいあし
⾇
err
6 ship, boat ふね
⾈
ふねへん
6 ship, boat a variant

of ⾈（ふ
ね）
6 boundary こん
⾉
6 color いろ
⾊
6 grass, plant くさ
⾋
6 tiger とらがしら
⾌
6 worm, insect, むし
⾍
bug
むしへん Important
6 worm, insect, a variant

bug
of ⾍（む
し）
6 blood ち
⾎
6 to go ぎょうがま Important
⾏
え
6 clothing ころも
⾐
6 cover, west にし
⾑
6 cover, west にし
⻃ a variant
of ⾑（に
し）
6 melon うり a variant
⽠
of ⽠（う
り）
7 to see みる
⾒
7 horn, corner つの
⾓
つのへん
7 horn, corner a variant

of ⾓（つ
の）
7 words, to げん
⾔
speak, say
7 words, to ごんべん a variant Important

speak, say of ⾔（げ

ん）
7 valley たに
⾕
たにへん
7 valley a variant

of ⾕（た
に）
7 bean まめ
⾖
まめへん
7 bean a variant

of ⾖（ま
め）
7 pig いのこ
⾗
7 badger むじなへん
⾘
7 shell, かい
⾙
property,
wealth
かいへん a variant Important

7 shell,
 of ⾙（か
property,
い）
wealth
7 red あか
⾚
7 to run はしる
⾛
そうにょう Important
7 to run a variant

of ⾛（は
しる）
meanings
7 foot, leg あし
⾜
あしへん Important
7 foot, leg a variant
⻊
of ⾜（あ
し）
7 body み
⾝
みへん
7 body a variant

of ⾝
（み）
7 vehicle, くるま
⾞
wheel, car
くるまへん Important
7 vehicle, a variant

wheel, car
of ⾞（く
るま）
7 bitter からい
⾟
7 Fifth zodiac しんのたつ

⾠
sign, 7–9 A.M.
7 to advance, しんにょう
⾡
move ahead
7 community むら
⾢
7 sake jar, bird ひよみのと

⾣
り
とりへん
7 sake jar, bird a variant

of ⾣（ひ
よみのと
meanings
り）
7 to separate のごめ
⾤
のごめへん
7 to separate a variant

of ⾤（の
ごめ）
7 village, (3.93 さと
⾥
km)
さとへん
7 village, a variant

(3.93 km)
of ⾥（さ
と）
しん
7 a variant
⾂
of ⾂（し
retainer,
minister
ん）
まいあし
7 contrary, a variant

to err
of ⾇（ま
いあし）
むぎ
7 wheat a variant
⻨
of ⿆（む
ぎ）
8 metal, gold, かね
⾦
mineral
かねへん a variant Important

8 metal,

gold, of ⾦（か
mineral
ね）
8 long ながい
⻑
24/
8 gate, door もんがまえ Important
⾨
8 hill こざと
⾩
8 to capture れいづくり
⾪
8 small bird ふるとり

⾫
8 rain あめ
⾬
8 rain あめかんむ a variant Important

⻗
り of ⾬（あ
め）
8 blue, green あお
⾭
あお
8 blue, green a variant
⻘
of ⾭（あ
お）
8 wrong, non- あらず

⾮
しょくへん
8 food, to eat a variant
⻟
of ⾷（し
ょく）
8 alike せい
⻫ a variant
of ⿑（せ
い）
9 face, surface めん
⾯
9 leather つくりがわ
⾰
9 leather
 なめしがわ
9 leek にら
⾲
9 sound, noise おと
⾳
9 head, page おおがい Important

⾴
9 wind かぜ
⾵
9 to ᱜ y とぶ
⾶
9 food, to eat しょく

⾷
9 head くび
⾸
9 scent かおり
⾹
10 horse うま
⾺
10 horse うまへん a variant


of ⾺（う
ま）
10 bone ほね
⾻
10 bone ほねへん a variant


of ⾻（ほ
ね）
10 high たかい
⾼
10 long hair かみかんむ

⾽
り
10 ᱄ ghting たたかいが
⾾
まえ
10 herbs においざけ
⾿
10 tripod れき
⿀
10 demon おに
⿁
なめしがわ a variant
10 leather
⾱
of （な
めしがわ）
11 ᱄ sh うお
⿂
うおへん Important
11 ᱄ sh a variant

of ⿂（う
お）
11 bird とり
⿃
11 salt しお
⿄
11 deer しか
⿅
11 wheat むぎ
⿆
11 hemp あさ
⿇
11 hemp あさかんむ a variant


り of ⿇（あ
さ）
き
11 yellow a variant
⻩
of ⿈
（き）
11 black くろ a variant
黒
of ⿊（く
ろ）
11 turtle かめ a variant
⻲
of ⿔（か
め）
12 yellow き
⿈
12 millet きび
⿉
12 black くろ
⿊
12 embroider ぬいとり
⿋
12 tooth は a variant
⻭
of ⿒
（は）
13 frog かえる
⿌
13 tripod かなえ
⿍
13 drum つづみ
⿎
13 rat, mouse ねずみ

⿏
14 nose はな
⿐
14 alike せい
⿑
15 tooth は
⿒
16 dragon りゅう
⿓
16 turtle かめ
⿔
17 ᱜ ute やく
⿕
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.
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23 thoughts on “The 214 traditional kanji radicals and their variants”
Alex
August 2, 2013 at 9:33 am
Complete and clear, I ᱄ nd this very helpful for those starting to learn kanji.
iji
August 20, 2013 at 5:55 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
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 can’t display some of the radicals (such as ひとやね, かぜ
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 o ᱜ er two suggestions:
The ᱄ rst 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 de ᱄ nitely 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.
iji
August 27, 2013 at 4:24 pm
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.
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 it’s 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 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 ᱄ 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. 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
many di ᱜ erent words with the same pronunciation in Japanese. Each はし has a di ᱜ erent 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 e ᱜ ectively on
this fun journey!
Steve P
October 25, 2013 at 2:27 am
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?
Rehn
April 29, 2014 at 2:58 am
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?
Post author
Harumi Lory
August 21, 2014 at 7:25 pm
Hi Rehn, I’m very sorry we didn’t respond to your comment in a timely manner – it somehow slipped
our attention.
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
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.
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 di ᱜ erent 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 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 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
kanjialive@gmail.com 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.
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 don’t seem to ᱄ nd the stroke order of these radicals,
where could I ᱄ 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. I’m not aware of an online resource with this
information, though I am con ᱄ dent 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 di ᱜ erent 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, 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
order, again, thanks!
Laeark
April 22, 2015 at 8:25 am
Hi, i just want to tell to the author that i ᱄ nd this page the most useful and best explained
about the japanese radicals ( ´・ω・)つ旦.
Post author
Arno Bosse
April 24, 2015 at 10:46 pm
Thank you! We’re glad you’ve found it to be a useful resource.
スミス
May 3, 2015 at 6:04 am
Just ᱄ nished 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 ᱜ ow…. しち as stigi
(pardon my improve) or ひと (人) as shtoo (again, pardon the improve. Sorry, getting o ᱜ on a
lot of tangents!
Wonderful and VERY useful site!!!
Leena
May 22, 2015 at 11:46 pm
Hi, I am just a beginner in Japanese. For the ᱄ rst months I’ve learned both Hiragana and Katakana
and the basics in speaking but I think now it’s the time for me to ᱄ nally 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?
Kanji alive
May 25, 2015 at 5:31 pm
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/
Diana
May 24, 2015 at 8:19 am
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. :)
Kanji alive
May 24, 2015 at 8:49 am
And thank you – you’re very welcome.

Learn 214 Traditional Kanji Radicals and Their Meanings

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30/05/2015 The 214 traditional kanji radicals and their

The 214 traditional kanji radicals and

へん (hen) Radicals on the left side of the kanji

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

2 person にんべん a variant Important

2 person ひとやね a variant Important

2 human legs ひとあし Important

2 eight はちがしら a variant

2 cover, crown わかんむり Important

2 knife, sword りっとう a variant Important

2 stamp, seal ふしづくり

2 cli ᱜ がんだれ Important

3 mouth くちへん a variant Important

3 border, くにがまえ Important

3 man, scholar, さむらい

3 man, scholar, さむらいか a variant

3 roof, house うかんむり Important

3 inch, (2.25 すんづくり a variant

3 small しょうかん a variant

3 lame leg だいのまげ

3 winding river まがりがわ

3 river さんぼんが a variant

3 work, たくみへん a variant

3 young, slight いとがしら

3 slanting roof まだれ Important

3 bow （in ゆみへん a variant

3 pig’s head けいがしら

3 pig’s head けいがしら

3 pig’s head けいがしら

3 step, stride, ぎょうにん Important

3 grass くさかんむ a variant Important

3 road, walk, to しんにょう a variant Important

3 village, おおざと Important

3 hill, mound こざとへん Important

3 heart, りっしんべ a variant Important

3 hand てへん Important

3 water さんずい Important

3 beast けものへん Important

4 heart, mind, こころ

4 heart, mind, したごころ a variant

ぼくづくり a variant Important

4 big dipper, ますづくり

4 to lack, yawn あくび

4 death & がつへん

4 not, mother なかれ

4 steam, air きがまえ

4 claw, nail つめかんむ a variant

4 claw, nail つめかんむ a variant

4 split wood しょうへん

4 altar, しめすへん a variant Important

5 rice paddy たへん a variant

5 bolt of cloth ひきへん a variant

5 sickness やまいだれ Important

5 white はくへん a variant

5 skin, hide けがわ

5 eye めへん a variant Important

5 eye よこめ a variant

5 halberd ほこへん a variant