Do you know how many radicals we have in Japan? The number may vary depending on the way of grouping of Kanji, but generally, we say there are 214 radicals.
Every Kanji has its radical, and we don’t need to remember what the radical is for each Kanji. However, some radicals help you to guess or to understand meanings of Kanji. And it will also help you to learn new Kanji as you learn more and more Kanji.
For example, you might already know the Kanji for mouth; “口”(Kuchi). We have a radical based on “口”, called “くちへん”(Kuchi-hen). And even if you don’t know the meaning of “呼”(Yo-bu/Ko) – meaning “to call”, you can easily guess this Kanji is something related to mouth.
Here, I collected 13 useful radicals that help you to guess meanings of Kanji and help you to learn more Kanji.
さんずい / Sanzui
| Radical | Meaning | Usage |
氵 | Water | Used for Kanji related to water |
| Example | 池 沖 河 沼 油 洗 浴 洋 浸 混 深 |
List of Jōyō Kanji Related to Water / Kanji with Sanzui Radical
にんべん / Nin-ben
| Radical | Meaning | Usage |
亻 | Human | Used for Kanji related to human |
| Example | 仏 休 作 住 伸 体 使 係 信 借 像 |
List of Jōyō Kanji Related to Human / Kanji with Nin-ben Radical
てへん / Te-hen
| Radical | Meaning | Usage |
扌 | Hand | Used for Kanji related to a hand or an action with hands |
| Example | 投 抜 押 推 探 捜 指 持 拾 捨 振 |
List of Jōyō Kanji Related to a Hand / Kanji with Te-hen Radical
きへん / Ki-hen
| Radical | Meaning | Usage |
木 | Wood | Used for Kanji related to a tree or plants |
| Example | 机 札 材 松 杉 柱 栓 株 桃 梅 |
List of Jōyō Kanji Related to a Tree / Kanji with Ki-hen Radical
りっしんべん / Risshin-ben
| Radical | Meaning | Usage |
忄 | Heart | Used for Kanji describe feelings or emotion |
| Example | 情 悔 怪 性 忙 快 怖 悟 惨 慎 愉 |
List of Jōyō Kanji Related to Heart / Kanji with Risshin-ben (Kokoro) Radical
くちへん / Kuchi-hen
| Radical | Meaning | Usage |
口 | Mouth | Used for Kanji related to mouth movement |
| Example | 呼 吸 叫 唱 喉 咽 噴 味 吟 吐 |
List of Jōyō Kanji Related to Mouth / Kanji with Kuchi-hen Radical
ごんべん / Gon-ben
| Radical | Meaning | Usage |
言 | To say | Used for Kanji related to words or speaking |
| Example | 誘 証 詞 誇 詩 語 説 詠 読 請 許 |
List of Jōyō Kanji Related to Speaking / Kanji with Gon-ben Radical
いとへん / Ito-hen
| Radical | Meaning | Usage |
糸 | Thread | Used for Kanji related to thread or fabrics |
| Example | 紙 納 終 組 絵 経 絶 絞 絹 網 綿 |
List of Jōyō Kanji Related to Thread / Kanji with Ito-hen Radical
しんにょう / Shinnyo
| Radical | Meaning | Usage |
辶 | To walk | Used for Kanji related to a road or walking |
| Example | 道 進 送 運 通 過 迷 退 追 返 遊 |
つちへん / Tsuchi-hen
| Radical | Meaning | Usage |
土 | Clay | Used for Kanji related to clay |
| Example | 地 城 埋 堀 場 塀 塩 塊 壊 壌 坂 |
にちへんNichi-hen
| Radical | Meaning | Usage |
日 | Day | Used for Kanji related to the sun or weather |
| Example | 晴 明 晩 暇 暖 曜 昨 曖 映 暁 |
にくづき / Nikuzuki
| Radical | Meaning | Usage |
月 | Meat | Used for Kanji related to body |
| Example | 肺 腹 肌 腸 臓 胎 胞 脈 腰 膜 胸 |
おんなへん / Onna-hen
| Radical | Meaning | Usage |
女 | Woman | Used for Kanji related to a woman |
| Example | 妃 妊 姉 妹 娘 婚 婿 嫁 嬢 好 |