What are Radicals?

Japanese radicals, known as bushu (部首) in Japanese, are the fundamental building blocks of kanji. Think of them as the equivalent of letters in the alphabet, but for the complex world of kanji characters. Every single kanji is composed of at least one radical, and many are made up of two or more.

Below you will find the list of all the radicals used in Japanese.

You can also download this list:

Japanese Radicals.pdf

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STROKE#	RADICAL	MEANING	PICTOGRAM
1	⼀	one, horizontal stroke
1	⼁	Rod, be brought up and down
1	⼂	dot
1	⼃	Raising one’s head and standing upright, arrive
1	⼄ ⺃	the second
1	⼅	Hook
2	⼆	two
2	⼇	lid, top
2	⼈ ⺅ 𠆢	person
2	⼉	human legs
2	⼊	to enter
2	⼋	eight
2	⼌	to enclose, wide, same
2	⼍	cover, crown
2	⼎	ice
2	⼏ ⺇	Table, stool, wind
2	⼐	container, open box, cave
2	⼑ ⺉	knife, sword
2	⼒	power
2	⼓	to wrap, to enwrap
2	⼔	Spoon, dagger
2	⼕	box
2	⼖	to conceal, hide
2	⼗	ten
2	⼘	oracle
2	⼙	stamp, seal, kneeling person
2	⼚	Cliff, to oppose
2	⼛	Private, I
2	⼜	again, right hand
3	⼝	Mouth Also used for abstract meanings
3	⼞	border, territorial boundaries
3	⼟	earth
3	⼠	man, scholar, samurai
3	⼡	to follow, two legs and something behind, winter, late
3	⼢	to go slowly, footprint
3	⼣	evening
3	⼤	large, big
3	⼥	woman
3	⼦	child, son
3	⼧	roof, house
3	⼨	“sun” - 3.03 cm, control
3	⼩	small
3	⺌	Small, fire, light
3	⺐	lame leg
3	⼫	corpse, awning
3	⼬	sprout
3	⼭	mountain
3	⼮	winding river
3	川	river
3	⼯	work, carpenter, skill
3	⼰	self
3	⼱	Cloth, towel
3	⼲	to dry, shield
3	⺓	young, slight
3	⼴	slanting roof, tent
3	⼵	to move, stretch
3	⼶	folded hands
3	⼷	A small spike, ceremony
3	⼸	bow （in archery）
3	⼹ ⺕ ⺔	pig’s head, Hand
3	⼺	hair-style, light rays
3	⼻	step, stride, street, to go
3	⺾	grass
3	⻌	road, walk, to advance
3	⻏(on the right)	Large village, country, city
3	⻖(on the left)	hill, mound
3	⺖	heart, mind, spirit
3	⺘	hand
3	⺡	water
3	⺨ 犬	Beast, dog
4	⼼ ⺗	heart, mind, spirit
4	⼽	spear, weapon
4	⼾	door
4	⼿	hand
4	⽀	branch
4	⺙ ⽁	activity, to strike, hit, a whip
4	⽂	literature, letters
4	⽃	big dipper, ladle, 18 liters
4	⽄	axe
4	⽅	direction, flag
4	⽆	not
4	⽇	sun, day, time
4	⽈	to say
4	⽉ ⺝	moon, month, period
4	⽊	tree, wood
4	⽋	to lack, yawn, deficient
4	⽌	to stop
4	⽍	death & dying, to decompose
4	⽎	lance shaft, action
4	⽏	not, mother
4	⽐	to compare
4	⽑	Hair, fur
4	⽒	family, clan
4	⽓	steam, air
4	⽔	water
4	⽕	fire
4	⺣	Fire, claws/legs/fins
4	⽖ ⺤ 爫	claw, nail
4	⽗	father
4	⽘	to mix
4	⽙ 丬	split wood, piece
4	⽚	split wood, fragment, one side
4	⽜ 牜	cow
4	⽝	dog
4	⺭	altar, festival, religious service
4	㓁	net
4	⺹	old, old-age
5	⽞	darkness
5	⽟ 王	Jewelry, King
5	⽡	tile
5	⽢	sweet
5	⽣	birth, to be born, live
5	⽤	to use
5	⽥	rice paddy, bag of feed
5	⽦ ⺪	roll of cloth
5	⽧	sickness
5	⽨	outspread legs, departure
5	⽩	White, bright
5	⽪	skin, hide
5	⽫	plate, bowl
5	⽬	eye
5	⽭	halberd
5	⽮	arrow
5	⽯	stone
5	⽰	altar, festival, religious service
5	⽱	footprint
5	⽲	grain
5	⽳	hole, cave
5	⽴	to stand
5	⽛	fang, canine tooth
5	⺫ 𦉰	Net, eye
5	⻂ ⾐	clothing
6	⽵ ⺮	bamboo
6	⽶	Rice kernels
6	⽷	thread
6	⽸	Boiler
6	⽺ ⺷	sheep
6	⽻	feather, wing
6	⽽	and also
6	⽾	plow
6	⽿	ear
6	⾀	writing brush
6	⾁ ⺝	flesh, meat
6	⾃	self
6	⾄	to arrive, reach
6	⾅	mortar, quern
6	⾆	tongue
6	⾇	Dancing legs
6	⾈	ship, boat
6	⾉	Boundary, northeast
6	⾊	color
6	⾌	tiger
6	⾍	worm, insect, bug, snake
6	⾎	blood
6	⾏	to go
6	⾐ ⻂	Clothing, garment
6	⾑ ⻃	cover, west
6	⽠	melon
7	⾒	to see
7	⾓	horn, corner
7	⾔	words, to speak, say
7	⾕	valley
7	⾖	bean
7	⾗	pig
7	⾘	badger
7	⾙	shell, money
7	⾚	red
7	⾛	to run
7	⾜ ⻊	foot, leg
7	⾝	body
7	⾞	vehicle, wheel, car
7	⾟	bitter
7	⾠	Fifth zodiac sign, 7–9 A.M.
7	⾢	community
7	⾣	sake jar, bird
7	⾤	to separate
7	⾥	village, (3.93 km)
7	⾂	retainer, minister
7	⻨	wheat
8	⾦	metal, gold, mineral
8	⻑	long
8	⾨	gate, door
8	⾪	to capture, slave
8	⾫	small bird
8	⾬ ⻗	rain
8	⻘	Blue-green
8	⾮	wrong, non-
8	⻟	food, to eat
8	⻫	alike
9	⾯	face, surface
9	⾰	leather
9	⾲	leek
9	⾳	sound, noise
9	⾴	head, sheet (paper)
9	⾵	wind
9	⾶	to fly
9	⾷	food, to eat
9	⾸	Head, neck
9	⾹	scent
10	⾺	horse
10	⾻	bone
10	⾼	high
10	⾽	long hair
10	⾾	fighting
10	⾿	herbs
10	⿀	tripod
10	⿁	demon
10	⾱	Tanned leather
11	⿂	fish
11	⿃	bird
11	⿄	salt
11	⿅	deer
11	⿇	hemp
11	⻩	yellow
11	黒	black
11	⻲	turtle
12	⿉	millet
12	⿋	Embroider, sawing
12	⻭	tooth
13	⿌	frog
13	⿍	Trio, triad
13	⿎	drum
13	⿏	rat, mouse
14	⿐	nose
16	⿓	dragon
17	⿕	flute