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 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. Almost no-one uses all 214 but you will soon become familiar with the most frequently used radicals and their variants.

These are the seven representative categories of radicals according to their position within a kanji character:

へん (hen)radical left position へんRadicals on the left side of the kanji
つくり (tsukuri)radical right position つくりRadicals on the right
かんむり (kanmuri)radical top position かんむりRadicals on the top
あし (ashi)radical bottom position あしRadicals on the bottom
かまえ (kamae)

radical enclosed position くにがまえ
radical enclosed position ぎょうがまえ
radical enclosed position けいがまえ
radical enclosed position はこがまえ
radical enclosed position つつみがまえ
radical enclosed position きがまえ
radical enclosed position もんがまえ		Radicals which enclose the kanji
たれ (tare)radical top-left position たれRadicals which "hang down"
にょう (nyou)radical bottom-left position にょうRadicals which wrap around the bottom of a character

For most of the more common radicals we have indicated their position within a kanji character in the full list of radicals in the table below. The radicals in this list 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. 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.

In our web app (http://app.kanjialive.com) you can search for radicals by name, stroke or English meaning using the Advanced Search syntax (for example, rjn:miru or rjn:みる to search by name, rs:7 to search by stroke number and rem:see to search by meaning). Please consult the User Guide for additional search options.

Tip: You can also use the table’s search field to search/filter radicals by position. Use the radical positions table at the top of this page as a reference. For example, to view all radicals in the “hang down” position, type たれ 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 reveals its Japanese name.

Tip: Many of the radicals shown on this list can’t be displayed with the Japanese fonts available on Windows, OS X or Linux such as Meiryo, Hiragino or M-plus. For this reason we created Japanese Radicals, a custom font with 60 extra glyphs which offers full support for all Japanese radicals and variants. The font is freely available for private or commercial use.

Stroke#
Radical
Position
Meaning
Reading
Notes
Importance
1⼀one, horizontal strokeいち
1⼁vertical strokeたてぼう
1⼂dotてん
1⼃diagonal sweeping strokeの
1かんむり Radical on the topdiagonal sweeping strokeのかんむりa variant of ⼃（の）
1⼄the secondおつ
1⺃the secondおつa variant of ⼄（おつ）
1⼅vertical stroke with a hookはねぼう
2⼆twoに
2⼇かんむり Radical on the toplid, topなべぶたImportant
2⼈personひと
2⺅へん Radical on the leftpersonにんべんa variant of ⼈（ひと）Important
2𠆢かんむり Radical on the toppersonひとやねa variant of ⼈（ひと）Important
2⼉あし Radical on the bottomhuman legsひとあしImportant
2⼊to enterいる
2⼋eightはち
2eightはちがしらa variant of ⼋（はち）
2⼌けいがまえ Radical which encloses the kanjito encloseけいがまえ
2⼍かんむり Radical on the topcover, crownわかんむりImportant
2⼎へん Radical on the lefticeにすい
2⼏つくり Radical on the righttableきにょう
2⺇かんむり Radical on the topwindかぜかんむり
2⼐にょう Radical which wraps around the bottomcontainer, open boxかんにょう
2⼑knife, swordかたな
2⺉つくり Radical on the rightknife, swordりっとうa variant of ⼑（かたな）Important
2⼒powerちから
2⼓つつみがまえ Radical which encloses the kanjito wrapつつみがまえ
2⼔つくり Radical on the rightspoonさじ
2⼕はこがまえ Radical which encloses the kanjiboxはこがまえ
2⼖はこがまえ Radical which encloses the kanjito conceal, hideかくしがまえ
2⼗tenじゅう
2⼘oracleぼく
2⼙つくり Radical on the rightstamp, sealふしづくり
2⼚たれ Radical which ‘hangs down’cliffがんだれImportant
2⼛private, Katakana Muむ
2⼜again, right handまた
3⼝mouthくち
3へん Radical on the leftmouthくちへんa variant of ⼝（くち）Important
3⼞くにがまえ Radical which encloses the kanjiborder, territorial boundariesくにがまえImportant
3⼟earthつち
3へん Radical on the leftearthつちへんa variant of ⼟（つち）Important
3⼠man, scholar, samuraiさむらい
3かんむり Radical on the topman, scholar, samuraiさむらいかんむりa variant of ⼠（さむらい）
3⼡to followのまた
3⼢あし Radical on the bottomto go slowlyなつあし
3⼣eveningゆうべ
3⼤large, bigだい
3⼥womanおんな
3へん Radical on the leftwomanおんなへんa variant of ⼥（おんな）Important
3⼦child, sonこ
3へん Radical on the leftchild, sonこへんa variant of ⼦（こ）Important
3⼧かんむり Radical on the toproof, houseうかんむりImportant
3⼨inch, (2.25 cm)すん
3つくり Radical on the rightinch, (2.25 cm)すんづくりa variant of ⼨（すん）
3⼩smallしょう
3⺌かんむり Radical on the topsmallしょうかんむりa variant of ⼩（しょう）
3⺐つくり Radical on the rightlame legだいのまげあし
3⼫たれ Radical which ‘hangs down’corpse, awningしかばね
3⼬sproutくさのめ
3⼭mountainやま
3へん Radical on the leftmountainやまへんa variant of ⼭（やま）
3かんむり Radical on the topmountainやまかんむりa variant of ⼭（やま）
3⼮winding riverまがりがわ
3川riverさんぼんがわa variant of ⼮（まがりがわ）
3⼯work, carpenter, skillたくみ
3へん Radical on the leftwork, carpenter, skillたくみへんa variant of ⼯（たくみ）
3⼰selfおのれ
3⼱clothはば
3へん Radical on the leftclothはばへんa variant of ⼱（はば）
3⼲to dry, shieldかん
3⺓young, slightいとがしら
3⼴たれ Radical which ‘hangs down’slanting roofまだれImportant
3⼵にょう Radical which wraps around the bottomto move, stretchえんにょう
3⼶あし Radical on the bottomfolded handsにじゅうあし
3⼷javelinいぐるみ
3⼸bow （in archery）ゆみ
3へん Radical on the leftbow （in archery）ゆみへんa variant of ⼸（ゆみ）
3⼹pig’s headけいがしら
3⺕pig’s headけいがしらa variant of ⼹ （けいがしら）
3⺔pig’s headけいがしらa variant of ⼹ （けいがしら）
3⼺つくり Radical on the righthair-style, light raysさんづくり
3⼻へん Radical on the leftstep, stride, street, to goぎょうにんべんImportant
3⺾かんむり Radical on the topgrassくさかんむりa variant of ⾋（くさ）Important
3⻌にょう Radical which wraps around the bottomroad, walk, to advanceしんにょうa variant of ⾡（しんにょう）Important
3⻏つくり Radical on the rightvillage, country, cityおおざとa variant of ⾢（むら）Important
3⻖へん Radical on the lefthill, moundこざとへんa variant of ⾩（こざと）Important
3⺍かんむり Radical on the topKatakana Tsuつ
3⺖へん Radical on the leftheart, mind, spiritりっしんべんa variant of ⼼（こころ）Important
3⺘へん Radical on the lefthandてへんa variant of ⼿（て）Important
3⺡へん Radical on the leftwaterさんずいa variant of ⽔（みず）Important
3⺨へん Radical on the leftbeastけものへんa variant of ⽝（いぬ）Important
4⼼heart, mind, spiritこころ
4⺗あし Radical on the bottomheart, mind, spiritしたごころa variant of ⼼（こころ）
4⼽spear, weaponほこ
4⼾doorと
4たれ Radical which ‘hangs down’doorとだれa variant of ⼾（と）
4⼿handて
4⽀branchしにょう
4⽁つくり Radical on the rightactivity, to strike, hitぼくづくり
4⺙つくり Radical on the rightactivity, to strike, hitぼくづくりa variant of ⽁（ぼくづくり） Important
4⽂literature, lettersぶん
4⽃つくり Radical on the rightbig dipper, ladle, 18 litersますづくり
4⽄つくり Radical on the rightaxeおのづくり
4⽅direction, flagほう
4へん Radical on the leftdirection, flagほうへんa variant of ⽅（ほう）
4⽆notむにょう
4⽇sun, day, timeひ
4へん Radical on the leftsun, day, timeひへんa variant of ⽇（ひ）Important
4⽈to sayひらび
4⽉moon, month, periodつき
4⺝へん Radical on the leftmoon, month, periodつきへんa variant of ⽉（つき）
4meat, fleshにくづきa variant of ⾁（にく）Important
4⽊tree, woodき
4へん Radical on the lefttree, woodきへんa variant of ⽊（き）Important
4⽋to lack, yawnあくび
4⽌to stopとめる
4⽍death & dying, to decomposeがつ
4へん Radical on the leftdeath & dying, to decomposeがつへんa variant of ⽍（がつ）
4⽎つくり Radical on the rightlance shaft, actionるまた
4⽏not, motherなかれ
4⽐to compareくらべる
4⽑hairけ
4⽒family, clanうじ
4⽓きがまえ Radical which encloses the kanjisteam, airきがまえ
4⽔waterみず
4⽕fireひ
4へん Radical on the leftfireひへんa variant of ⽕（ひ）Important
4⺣あし Radical on the bottomfireれっかa variant of ⽕（ひ）Important
4⽖claw, nailつめ
4⺤かんむり Radical on the topclaw, nailつめかんむりa variant of ⽖（つめ）
4爫かんむり Radical on the topclaw, nailつめかんむりa variant of ⽖（つめ）
4⽗fatherちち
4⽘to mixこう
4⽙へん Radical on the leftsplit woodしょうへん
4⽚split woodかた
4へん Radical on the leftsplit woodかたへんa variant of ⽚（かた）
4fang, canine toothきば
4⽜cowうし
4へん Radical on the leftcowうしへんa variant of ⽜（うし）
4⽝dogいぬ
4へん Radical on the leftjewelry, jeweled kingおうへんa variant of ⽟（たま）Important
4⺭へん Radical on the leftaltar, festival, religious serviceしめすへんa variant of ⽰（しめす）Important
4㓁netあみがしらa variant of ⽹（あみ）
4⺹かんむり Radical on the topold, old-ageおいかんむりa variant of ⽼（おいかんむり）
5⽞darknessげん
5⽟jewelryたま
5melonうり
5⽡tileかわら
5⽢sweetあまい
5⽣birth, to be born, liveうまれる
5⽤to useもちいる
5⽥rice paddyた
5へん Radical on the leftrice paddyたへんa variant of ⽥（た）
5⽦bolt of clothひき
5⺪へん Radical on the leftbolt of clothひきへんa variant of ⽦（ひき）
5⽧たれ Radical which ‘hangs down’sicknessやまいだれImportant
5⽨かんむり Radical on the topoutspread legs, departureはつがしら
5⽩whiteしろ
5へん Radical on the leftwhiteはくへんa variant of ⽩（しろ）
5⽪skin, hideけがわ
5⽫plate, bowlさら
5⽬eyeめ
5へん Radical on the lefteyeめへんa variant of ⽬（め）Important
5かんむり Radical on the topeyeよこめa variant of ⽬（め）
5⽭halberdほこ
5へん Radical on the lefthalberdほこへんa variant of ⽭（ほこ）
5⽮arrowや
5へん Radical on the leftarrowやへんa variant of ⽮（や）
5⽯stoneいし
5へん Radical on the leftstoneいしへんa variant of ⽯（いし）
5⽰altar, festival, religious serviceしめす
5⽱footprintじゅうのあし
5⽲へん Radical on the leftgrainのぎへんImportant
5⽳hole, caveあな
5かんむり Radical on the tophole, caveあなかんむりa variant of ⽳（あな）Important
5⽴to standたつ
5へん Radical on the leftto standたつへんa variant of ⽴（たつ）
5fang, canine toothきばa variant of （きば）
5へん Radical on the leftfang, canine toothきばへんa variant of ⽛（きば）
5氺waterしたみずa variant of ⽔（みず）
5⺫かんむり Radical on the topnetあみがしらa variant of ⽹（あみ）
5𦉰netあみがしらa variant of ⽹（あみ）
5⻂へん Radical on the leftclothingころもへんa variant of ⾐（ころも）Important
5⺛notむにょうa variant of ⽆（むにょう）
6⽵bambooたけ
6⺮かんむり Radical on the topbambooたけかんむりa variant of ⽵（たけ）Important
6⽶riceこめ
6へん Radical on the leftriceこめへんa variant of ⽶（こめ）Important
6⽷threadいと
6へん Radical on the leftthreadいとへんa variant of ⽷（いと）Important
6⽸earthen jarみずがめ
6⽹netあみめ
6⽺sheepひつじ
6⺷sheepひつじa variant of ⽺（ひつじ）
6羽feather, wingはね
6⽻feather, wingはねa variant of羽（はね）
6⽼old, old-ageおいかんむり
6⽽and alsoしこうして
6⽾へん Radical on the leftplowらいすき
6⽿earみみ
6へん Radical on the leftearみみへんa variant of ⽿（みみ）
6⾀writing brushふでづくり
6⾁flesh, meatにく
6⾂retainer, ministerしん
6⾃selfみずから
6⾄to arrive, reachいたる
6へん Radical on the leftto arrive, reachいたるへんa variant of ⾄（いたる）
6⾅mortar, quernうす
6⾆tongueした
6⾇contrary, to errまいあし
6⾈ship, boatふね
6へん Radical on the leftship, boatふねへんa variant of ⾈（ふね）
6⾉boundaryこん
6⾊colorいろ
6⾋grass, plantくさ
6⾌かんむり Radical on the toptigerとらがしら
6⾍worm, insect, bugむし
6へん Radical on the leftworm, insect, bugむしへんa variant of ⾍（むし）Important
6⾎bloodち
6⾏ぎょうがまえ Radical which encloses the kanjito goぎょうがまえImportant
6⾐clothingころも
6⾑cover, westにし
6⻃cover, westにしa variant of ⾑（にし）
6⽠melonうりa variant of ⽠（うり）
7⾒to seeみる
7⾓horn, cornerつの
7へん Radical on the lefthorn, cornerつのへんa variant of ⾓（つの）
7⾔words, to speak, sayげん
7へん Radical on the leftwords, to speak, sayごんべんa variant of ⾔（げん）Important
7⾕valleyたに
7へん Radical on the leftvalleyたにへんa variant of ⾕（たに）
7⾖beanまめ
7へん Radical on the leftbeanまめへんa variant of ⾖（まめ）
7⾗pigいのこ
7⾘へん Radical on the leftbadgerむじなへん
7⾙shell, property, wealthかい
7へん Radical on the leftshell, property, wealthかいへんa variant of ⾙（かい）Important
7⾚redあか
7⾛to runはしる
7にょう Radical which wraps around the bottomto runそうにょうa variant of ⾛（はしる）Important
7⾜foot, legあし
7⻊へん Radical on the leftfoot, legあしへんa variant of ⾜（あし）Important
7⾝bodyみ
7へん Radical on the leftbodyみへんa variant of ⾝（み）
7⾞vehicle, wheel, carくるま
7へん Radical on the leftvehicle, wheel, carくるまへんa variant of ⾞（くるま）Important
7⾟bitterからい
7⾠Fifth zodiac sign, 7–9 A.M.しんのたつ
7⾡to advance, move aheadしんにょう
7⾢communityむら
7⾣sake jar, birdひよみのとり
7へん Radical on the leftsake jar, birdとりへんa variant of ⾣（ひよみのとり）
7⾤to separateのごめ
7へん Radical on the leftto separateのごめへんa variant of ⾤（のごめ）
7⾥village, (3.93 km)さと
7へん Radical on the leftvillage, (3.93 km)さとへんa variant of ⾥（さと）
7⾂retainer, ministerしんa variant of ⾂（しん）
7contrary, to errまいあしa variant of ⾇（まいあし）
7⻨wheatむぎa variant of ⿆（むぎ）
8⾦metal, gold, mineralかね
8へん Radical on the leftmetal, gold, mineralかねへんa variant of ⾦（かね）Important
8⻑longながい
8⾨もんがまえ Radical which encloses the kanjigate, doorもんがまえImportant
8⾩hillこざと
8⾪つくり Radical on the rightto captureれいづくり
8⾫small birdふるとり
8⾬rainあめ
8⻗かんむり Radical on the toprainあめかんむりa variant of ⾬（あめ）Important
8⾭blue, greenあお
8⻘blue, greenあおa variant of ⾭（あお）
8⾮wrong, non-あらず
8⻟へん Radical on the leftfood, to eatしょくへんa variant of ⾷（しょく）
8⻫alikeせいa variant of ⿑（せい）
9⾯face, surfaceめん
9⾰leatherつくりがわ
9leatherなめしがわ
9⾲leekにら
9⾳sound, noiseおと
9⾴つくり Radical on the righthead, pageおおがいImportant
9⾵windかぜ
9⾶to flyとぶ
9⾷food, to eatしょく
9⾸headくび
9⾹scentかおり
10⾺horseうま
10へん Radical on the lefthorseうまへんa variant of ⾺（うま）
10⾻boneほね
10へん Radical on the leftboneほねへんa variant of ⾻（ほね）
10⾼highたかい
10⾽かんむり Radical on the toplong hairかみかんむり
10⾾もんがまえ Radical which encloses the kanjifightingたたかいがまえ
10⾿herbsにおいざけ
10⿀tripodれき
10⿁demonおに
10⾱leatherなめしがわa variant of （なめしがわ）
11⿂fishうお
11へん Radical on the leftfishうおへんa variant of ⿂（うお）Important
11⿃birdとり
11⿄saltしお
11⿅deerしか
11⿆wheatむぎ
11⿇hempあさ
11かんむり Radical on the tophempあさかんむりa variant of ⿇（あさ）
11⻩yellowきa variant of ⿈（き）
11黒blackくろa variant of ⿊（くろ）
11⻲turtleかめa variant of ⿔（かめ）
12⿈yellowき
12⿉milletきび
12⿊blackくろ
12⿋embroiderぬいとり
12⻭toothはa variant of ⿒（は）
13⿌frogかえる
13⿍tripodかなえ
13⿎drumつづみ
13⿏rat, mouseねずみ
14⿐noseはな
14⿑alikeせい
15⿒toothは
16⿓dragonりゅう
16⿔turtleかめ
17⿕fluteやく

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11 thoughts on “The 214 traditional kanji radicals and their variants”

  2. iji

    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 4 5

    Reply ↓
    1. admin

      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.

      Reply ↓
      1. iji

        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?

        Reply ↓
        1. admin

          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 offer two suggestions:

          The first 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 definitely 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.

          Reply ↓
          1. iji

            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.

  3. PheDz

    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. :)

    Reply ↓
    1. hlory

      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 first.

      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 different words with the same pronunciation in Japanese. Each はし has a different 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 effectively on this fun journey!

      Reply ↓
      1. Steve P

        That’s a great response! I am taking an beginning japanese course now, and I am about 98% confident 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?

        Reply ↓
        1. Rehn

          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?

          Reply ↓
          1. Kanji alive Post author

            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.

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