There are 214 radicals in Japanese and there is only one radical in every kanji. Each radical carries meanings and lends its meanings to the kanji to which it belongs. Therefore, it is vitally important to learn each kanji’s radical, as well as the its meaning. There is a fact you should know that not all 214 radicals are in use in current Japanese, so you only need to be familiar with the most important ones as well as their variants.
So, understanding the importance of it, let’s take a look at the folloing list of 214 kanji radicals, shall we!
| Strokes | Radical | Meaning | Note |
| 4 | 心 | heart,mind | Fairly popular. probable radiant is ⺗ |
| 2 | 刀 | knife, sword | More than 30 kanji contain this radical and some of them has the meaning related to knife and sword |
| 2 | 刂 | knife, sword | Radiant of 刀. More than 40 kanji contain this radical and some of them has the meaning related to knife and sword |
| 2 | 力 | power | Popular and important radiant. Most has the meaning related to power |
| 7 | 車 | car | Popular and easy to identify |
| 2 | 人 | people | Popular, most of the kanji containing it has the meaning related to humam or people |
| 2 | 亻 | people | Vertical radiant of 人, most of the kanji containing it has the meaning related to humam or people |
| 2 | 儿 | leg | most of the kanji containing it has the meaning related to humam or people. Bisides, when it is combined with 目(eye) , we have 見(see). It is also a part of 鬼 (demon) |
| 3 | 女 | woman, female | Popular and important. Most of the kanji containing it has meaning related to woman |
| 8 | 門 | gate | popular and easy to remember |
| 3 | 口 | mouth | The most popular randiant. A part of 言 and 舌 |
| 6 | 舌 | tongue | Among 2000 most popular kanji, 7 contain it |
| 7 | 言 | say | Very popular and important |
| 8 | 金 | gold | relatively popular |
| 4 | 木 | wood | Popular and important |
| 4 | 水 氵 |
water | 水 and its variant 氵have the same meaning |
| 4 | 火 灬 |
fire | 火 and its variant 灬 have the same meaning |
| 4 | 日 | sun | Very popular and important |
| 4 | 月 | month, moon | Very popular and important |
| 7 | 見 见 |
to see | 见 is a variant of 見 |
| 5 | 目 | eye | popular and important |
| 3 | 廴 | long step | |
| 5 | 禾 | rice | Fairly popular |
| 4 | 牛 / 牜 |
cow | 牜 is a variant of 牛 and has the same meaning as 牛 |
| 4 | 犬 / 犭 |
dog | 犬 is a variant of 犭and has the same meaning |
| 5 | 立 | to stand | Pretty popular |
| 6 | 自 | self | 12 of 2000 most popular kanji contain it |
| 8 | 長 | long | |
| 3 | 土 | earth, soil | very popular, a lot of kanji containing it has meaning related to earth or soil |
| 3 | 士 | scholar | almost the same as 土, so very confusing. The difference is the length of 2 horizontal strokes |
| 7 | 走 | to run | |
| 6 | 羊 ⺷ |
goat/ sheep | ⺷ is a variant of 羊 |
| 8 | 雨 | rain | Pretty popular |
| 8 | 青 | blue | 青 |
| 1 0 |
馬 | horse | |
| 6 | 行 | to go | |
| 2 | 冂 | box or to contain | More than 90 kanji contain it, many of which have the meaning related to box or containing |
| 2 | 冖 | cover | About 60 kanji contain it and only a few of them are influenced by its meaning |
| 3 | 山 | mountain | |
| 3 | 巛 | river | the variant of 巛 is 川 |
| 3 | 川 | river | 川 is the variant of 巛 |
| 5 | 生 | birth | |
| 5 | 用 | utilize, business, service, use, employ | |
| 5 | 田 | rice field | |
| 7 | 里 | village, parent’s home, league | rarely seen |
| 8 | 阜 阝 |
hill, mound, left village | |
| 4 | 父 | father | |
| 3 | 寸 | measurement, tenth of a shaku, a little, small | |
| 3 | 小 / ⺌ |
small/little | ⺌ is a variant of 小 |
| 2 | 二 | two | |
| 4 | 方 | direction | |
| 5 | 白 | white | |
| 1 1 |
鳥 | bird | |
| 4 | 手 | hand | a variant and synonym of 手 is 扌 |
| 4 | 支 | branch | |
| 2 | 厂 | Cliff | Around 50 kanji contain it and most of them is not influenced by its meaning |
| 2 | 厶 | private | Popular and not influence much on words’meaning |
| 2 | 又 | again | Popular |
| 3 | 大 | big | Popular and some kanji have meaning related to it |
| 2 | 亠 | top | A lot of kanji contain this radical but a few of them has meaning related to it |
| 2 | 入 | enter | only 3 kanji contain it |
| 2 | 八 | eight | Many kanj contain it but do not have meaning related |
| 2 | 冫 | ice | only 35 kanjij contain this radical and most of them are not influenced by its meaning |
| 2 | 几 | table | only 30 kanjij contain this radical and most of them are not influenced by its meaning |
| 2 | 凵 | open box enclosure, open box | about 20 kanjij contain this radical and most of them are not influenced by its meaning |
| 2 | 勹 | wrap, embrace | about 80 kanjij contain this radical and most of them are not influenced by its meaning |
| 2 | 匕 | spoon | about 50 kanjij contain this radical and most of them are not influenced by its meaning |
| 2 | 匚 | square box | about 18 kanjij contain this radical and most of them are not influenced by its meaning |
| 2 | 十 | ten | about 150 kanjij contain this radical and most of them are not influenced by its meaning |
| 2 | 卜 | fortune-telling | about 30 kanjij contain this radical and most of them are not influenced by its meaning |
| 2 | 卩 | stamp | refer to a small detail of something or a phenomenon |
| 3 | 夂 | follow | relatively popular and most of the kanji containing it are not influenced by its meaning |
| 3 | 夕 | night | about 200 kanjij contain this radical and most of them are not influenced by its meaning |
| 3 | 子 | child | |
| 3 | 宀 | roof | very popular and important |
| 3 | 尢 | weak | /td> |
| 3 | 尸 | corspe/zombies | |
| 3 | 屮 | sprout | |
| 3 | 工 | craft | |
| 3 | 己 | self | |
| 3 | 巾 | towel | |
| 3 | 干 | interfere | |
| 3 | 幺 | small | |
| 3 | 广 | house built at a slope, dotted cliff | nearly the same as 宀 and relatively similar to 厂 |
| 3 | 廾 | two hands | |
| 3 | 弋 | shoot; arrow | |
| 3 | 弓 | bow | |
| 3 | 彐 | pig head | |
| 3 | 彡 | long hair | |
| 3 | 彳 | left long step | Relatively popular |
| 4 | 戈 | tasselled spear | Relatively popular |
| 4 | 戶 | door | Relatively popular |
| 4 | 攴 攵 | whip | Relatively popular |
| 4 | 文 | literature | |
| 4 | 斗 | a kind of volume measure | rarely seen |
| 4 | 斤 | axe | |
| 4 | 无 | no | |
| 4 | 欠 | lack, gap | |
| 4 | 止 | stop | |
| 4 | 歹 | bad.,evil | |
| 4 | 殳 | halberd | |
| 4 | 毋 | don’t/ mother | |
| 4 | 比 | to compare | |
| 4 | 毛 | hair/ fur | |
| 4 | 氏 | surname | |
| 4 | 气 | steam | |
| 4 | 爪 | claw | |
| 4 | 爻 | mix, twine, cross | rarely seen, only used in 2 words : 爾 , 璽 |
| 2 | 爿 丬 |
wood piece / bed | a variant and synonym of 爿 is 丬 |
| 4 | 片 | piece | rarely seen, only used in 2 words : 版 and 片 |
| 4 | 牙 | tooth | |
| 5 | 玄 | black, mysterious | |
| 5 | 玉 | pearl | |
| 5 | 瓜 | melon | rarely seen, only used in 2 words : 孤 and 弧 |
| 5 | 瓦 | tile, gram | rarely seen, only used in 瓶 |
| 5 | 甘 | sweet | |
| 5 | 疋
匹 |
equal, head, counter for small animals, roll of cloth | |
| 5 | 疒 | disease | |
| 5 | 癶 | footsteps | |
| 5 | 皮 | skin | |
| 5 | 皿 | plate | |
| 5 | 矛 | spear | only 6 0f 2000 most popular kanji contain it |
| 5 | 矢 | arrow | about 6 0f 2000 most popular kanji contain it |
| 5 | 石 | stone | about 20 0f 2000 most popular kanji contain it |
| 5 | 示 礻 | god | about 6 0f 2000 most popular kanji contain it. 礻is a variant of 示 |
| 5 | 禸 | footprint | |
| 5 | 穴 | hole, aperture, slit, cave, den | meal, cooked rice |
| 6 | 竹 ⺮ | bamboo | ⺮ is a variant of 竹 |
| 6 | 米 | rice | |
| 6 | 糸 糹 纟 |
thread | Very popular and 糹,the variant of 糸, is usually used |
| 6 | 缶 | tin can, container, jar | rarely seen. only appear in 3 words : 缶, 陶, 瑶 |
| 6 | 网 | tongue | |
| 6 | 羽 / 羽 |
feather | |
| 6 | 老 | old | |
| 6 | 而 | and yet, and then, but, however, nevertheless | used in about 5 of 2000 most popupar kanji |
| 6 | 耒 | plough | used in about 4 of 2000 most popupar kanji |
| 6 | 聿 | write | used in about 9 of 2000 most popupar kanji |
| 6 | 肉 | meat | used in about 2 of 2000 most popupar kanji |
| 6 | 臣 | retainer; attendant | used in about 14 of 2000 most popupar kanji |
| 6 | 至 | arrive | used in about 9 of 2000 most popupar kanji |
| 6 | 臼 | millstone; mortar | used in about 2 of 2000 most popupar kanji |
| 6 | 舛 | mistake | used in about 4 of 2000 most popupar kanji |
| 6 | 舟 | boat | used in about 7 of 2000 most popupar kanji |
| 6 | 艮 | northeast (Oriental zodiac), stopping, good | |
| 6 | 色 | color | |
| 6 | 艸 ⺾ |
grass | |
| 6 | 虍 | grass | another meaning is stripe |
| 6 | 虫 | insect | |
| 6 | 血 | blood | not popular |
| 6 | 衣 衤 |
clothes | 衤 is a variant of 衣 |
| 6 | 襾
西 覀 |
cover, conceal | this radical has 3 variants, had better attention |
| 7 | 角 | horn | |
| 7 | 谷 | valley | |
| 7 | 豆 | bean | |
| 7 | 豕 | pig | |
| 7 | 豸 | legless insect | rarely seen, only seen in 墾 and 懇 |
| 7 | 貝 | treasure | popular |
| 7 | 赤 | red | |
| 7 | 足 | foot, leg | |
| 7 | 辛 | spicy | rarely seen |
| 7 | 辰 | dragon | rarely seen |
| 7 | 辵 辶 |
advance | 辶is a variatn of 辵. The majority of the kanji containing it is in the form of 辶 |
| 7 | 邑 阝 |
community | 阝is a variatn of 邑. The majority of the kanji containing it is in the form of 阝 |
| 7 | 酉 | tenth sign of Chinese zodiac , rooster | special |
| 7 | 釆 | distinguish | rarely seen |
| 8 | 隶 | in time | |
| 8 | 隹 | short-tailed bird | rather popular |
| 8 | 非 | no | |
| 8 | 面 | surface | |
| 9 | 革 | reform | seen in three words : 革, 靴, 覇 |
| 9 | 韋 | tanned leather | |
| 9 | 韭 | Chinese chive; garlic chive | rarely used |
| 9 | 音 | sound | |
| 9 | 頁 | page | |
| 9 | 風 | wind | |
| 9 | 飛 | fly | only used in one word 飛 |
| 9 | 食 飠 | eat | |
| 9 | 首 | neck | |
| 9 | 香 | scent | |
| 1 0 |
骫 | bone | |
| 1 0 |
高 | tall, costly | |
| 1 0 |
髟 | long hair | extremely rarely used |
| 1 0 |
鬥 | against | |
| 1 0 |
鬯 | fragrant herbs, spiced liqueur, grow, spread | |
| 1 0 |
鬲 | distance | |
| 1 1 |
鬼 | demon | |
| 1 1 |
魚 | fish | |
| 1 1 |
鹵 | salty | |
| 1 1 |
鹿 | deer | |
| 1 1 |
麦 | wheat | |
| 1 1 |
麻 | hemp | |
| 1 2 |
黃 | yellow | rarely seen |
| 1 2 |
黍 | millet | rarely seen |
| 1 2 |
黑 | black | rarely seen |
| 1 2 |
黹 | to sew | rarely seen |
| 1 3 |
黽 | frog, to try | rarely seen |
| 1 3 |
鼎 | top | rarely seen |
| 1 3 |
鼓 | drum | rarely seen |
| 1 3 |
鼠 | mouse | rarely seen |
| 1 4 |
鼻 | nose | rarely seen |
| 1 4 |
斉 | equal; similar; like; equivalent | rarely seen |
| 1 5 |
歯 | tooth | rarely seen |
| 1 6 |
龍 | dragon | rarely seen |
| 1 6 |
龜 | turtle | rarely seen |
| 1 | 一 | một | used in about 120 of 2000 most popular kanji |
| 1 | 丿 | a stroke curved to the left | |
| 1 | 乙 乚 | second | 乚 is a variant of 乙 and used in about 23 of 2000 most popular kanji |
| 1 | 亅 | a hook | used in about 60 of 2000 most popular kanji, but does not make any contribution to forming the meaning of word |
| 1 6 |
龠 | flute | rarely used |
The list of 214 kanji radicals above is what we offer to you as a good equipment, good bases to learn higher levels which I mean Kanji. Try to learn better and better and don’t forget to follow us since we are going to publish more and more helpful documents to you. Wish you all many success!
