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