Kanji

The History of Japanese Writing Systems

The origins of kanji trace back approximately 3000 years to ancient China, where these characters were first developed. They made their way to Japan through the Korean Peninsula around the 6th century, marking a pivotal moment in Japanese history. Initially, kanji served as the medium for writing Buddhist scriptures, gradually becoming integrated into Japanese cultural and administrative life during this early period.

山 "mountain"

川 "river"

日 "sun"

By the 8th and 9th centuries, Japan had developed two unique syllabaries: Hiragana and Katakana. Hiragana became closely associated with the poetic and literary expressions of women in the imperial court, while Katakana was primarily used by scholars to simplify the reading of Chinese texts, particularly those related to Buddhism. These scripts played a crucial role in the evolution of Japanese literature and culture.

Kanji

安

以

宇

​

➡️

➡️

➡️

Hiragana

あ

い

う

Kanji

阿

伊

江

​

➡️

➡️

➡️

Katakana

ア

イ

エ

By the 12th century, Japanese writers had begun to seamlessly combine kanji with hiragana and katakana, crafting a writing style that laid the foundation for modern Japanese script. This period also saw the practice of writing vertically, from top to bottom and right to left, becoming the standard, a tradition that continues in many forms of Japanese writing today.

私は 八月に 一人で 日本に 行きました。 スカイツリーで キーホルダーのおみやげを 買いました。

オーストラリア

Katakana is used for words borrowed from other languages.

Following World War II, Japan introduced significant reforms to its writing system. These changes included establishing standardized kanji for everyday use, adopting horizontal writing from left to right for certain contexts, and formalizing the use of katakana for foreign loanwords. These reforms aimed to modernize and simplify written communication in Japan.

Imported Chinese-style Readings and Native Japanese Readings

Before the introduction of kanji from China, the Japanese language lacked a formal writing system. When kanji arrived in the mid-6th century, the Japanese initially adopted the Chinese pronunciations of the characters, assigning them phonetic readings that became known as on-yomi, or “sound readings.” Over time, they also began using kanji to represent native Japanese words, based on the meanings of the characters rather than their sounds, leading to what is now known as kun-yomi, or “interpretive readings.”

Take, for instance, the kanji character 人, which denotes “person.” Upon its introduction to Japan, it was given the readings にん and じん, derived from the Chinese pronunciation of the word. These readings are considered the on-yomi of the kanji. However, the indigenous Japanese term for “person” is ひと, which was then associated with the kanji 人, becoming its kun-yomi, or native reading.

Typically, when a single kanji appears alone, it is pronounced using its kun-yomi. Conversely, when kanji are combined in compounds, they are often read with their on-yomi. For example, the word 三人, meaning “three people,” is read as さんにん, where the character 人 takes the reading にん, an on-yomi derived from Chinese. This combination reflects how the reading さんにん was imported along with the concept of “three people” from the Chinese language.

くんよみ (kun-yomi)

Japanese-origin reading

For native Japanese words

When you see one kanji alone, it is most likely read with its kun-yomi.

おんよみ (on-yomi)

Chinese-origin reading

Mostly for words borrowed from Chinese

When you see two or more kanji together, they are most likely read with their on-yomi.

The Origins of Kanji

Pictographic kanji: Pictographs are kanji characters that visually resemble the objects they represent, as demonstrated by the examples below. Many of these characters are inspired by elements of nature. The creators of kanji were deeply attuned to their environment, particularly to the mountains and rivers that surrounded them. They designed the first kanji by mimicking the shapes they observed in the natural world. For example, the kanji 明, meaning "bright," is a combination of two pictographs: 日 (sun) and 月 (moon), symbolizing light from both celestial bodies.

日 (sun)

木 (tree)

Ideographic kanji: Ideographs, in contrast, convey abstract ideas or concepts rather than tangible objects. These kanji were formed by combining simple lines, dots, and shapes to represent more complex notions. Over time, these basic forms evolved into some of the fundamental kanji still in use today, representing concepts that cannot be easily depicted by pictographs alone.

Practice

Try matching each picture from 1-6 below with the appropriate kanji from 1 to 6.

1

2

3

4

5

6

1.

川

2.

山

3.

中

4.

田

5.

下

6.

上

In the practice above, 山, 川, and 田 are pictographic, while 上, 下, and 中 are ideographic.

💡 Need help with the exercise ?

山 means 'Mountain' in (1), 川 means 'River' in (2), 中 means 'Inside' in (3) 田 means 'Field' in (3) 上 means 'Up' in (4) and 下 means 'Down' in (5). You can use these to guess the meaning of the sentences in the exercise.

When to Use Kanji and Hiragana

You’ve now encountered Japanese sentences composed of a blend of hiragana, katakana, and kanji. As you've learned, kanji convey specific ideas or concepts, so it’s crucial to consider the meaning each kanji adds when constructing sentences in Japanese. Let’s say you want to write "Please say (it)." Which of the following sentences would be correct?

In this case, although both sentences are pronounced identically (いってください), the choice of kanji alters the meaning entirely. In the first sentence, the kanji 行 represents "to go," whereas in the second, the kanji 言 means "to say." Selecting the wrong kanji can completely change the message you're trying to convey. Given that Japanese relies on a limited set of consonant and vowel sounds, the language has many homophones, making kanji a vital tool for distinguishing meanings in writing.

In Japanese, it’s important to use kanji only when they contribute meaning to the sentence. For example, let’s examine a common mistake made by learners:

In this sentence, the ending した is written in hiragana to indicate the past tense. Replacing these hiragana with the kanji 下, which is phonetically similar, is incorrect for two reasons. First, the kanji 下 means "under," which is irrelevant to the sentence’s meaning. Second, by substituting the hiragana, you lose the clear indication of past tense, which is essential for conveying when the action took place.

While kanji are essential for expressing the core meaning of words, they don’t provide information about tense, politeness level, or whether a word is affirmative or negative. Therefore, kanji alone cannot be used to fully conjugate verbs or adjectives in Japanese.

For instance, the kanji 飲 in the following example means "to drink," but on its own, it doesn’t convey whether the action occurred in the past or present, nor does it indicate whether the statement is affirmative or negative.

The part of the verb or adjective that conjugates, typically written in hiragana, is known as okurigana. These are necessary to complete the word’s meaning, especially in polite verb conjugations. The chart below illustrates how okurigana are used to finish polite verb forms, with the okurigana highlighted in blue.

Introduction to Kanji Elements

Have you observed that some kanji are composed of multiple parts? In this context, we refer to these individual components of kanji as "elements." Certain elements convey the meaning of the kanji, while others hint at its pronunciation. Understanding these elements can be incredibly useful, as it allows you to infer the meaning or reading of a kanji, even if you’re encountering it for the first time.

Elements that provide clues about meaning often occupy specific positions within a kanji, and these positions are typically shaded in the examples shown below.

Left or right

Top or bottom

Upper left

Lower left

Enclosure

Kanji Elements

You were introduced to elements that typically appear on the left side of a kanji and are closely tied to the kanji's meaning. However, these are not the only types of meaning-related elements you’ll encounter—there are others that occupy different positions within the structure of a kanji.

About the element 心, meaning "heart," which is commonly found at the bottom of a kanji. These meaning-related elements can also appear at the top, bottom, or even frame the kanji on both the top and left or bottom and left sides. As you continue to study kanji, you will frequently come across the following elements. Memorizing them can be particularly helpful when you need to infer the meanings of unfamiliar kanji.

Elements	Meaning	Kanji	Illustration
top	rain	雨
	roof; house	宀
	grass	艹
bottom	foot; leg	儿
top and left sides	roof	广
	sickness	疒
bottom and left sides	to walk	辶

Creating Your Own Kanji Stories

As you've learned, each kanji carries one or more meanings. The elements that compose a kanji often have meanings that are related to the overall meaning of the kanji itself. By combining these element meanings, you can create a narrative to help solidify the kanji’s meaning in your memory. Take, for instance, the kanji 明, which means "bright" (Ex.1) This kanji is made up of the elements 日 (sun) and 月 (moon). To craft a story, you might think, "It’s incredibly bright when both the sun and the moon share the sky." Another example can be seen with the kanji 楽 (Ex.2). Doesn’t its shape resemble apples in a tree. These visual stories based on the shapes and meanings of kanji and their elements can be a powerful tool for learning.

明

It is very bright when the "sun" and "moon" are in the sky together.

楽

Must be fun to see a ninja slicing apple in a tree 😁