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A collection of silly mnemonics I made up to help recall kanji.
Currently including kanji up to JLPT N3. |
Some components are kanji by themselves (like 人, 木, etc), but there are also ones that are just components, so here is a non-exhaustive list of their meanings. It makes them easier to remember.
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氵 |
water |
亻・𠂉 |
person |
扌 |
hand |
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艹 |
grass |
忄 |
heart |
⻌ |
path |
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冖・宀 |
roof, cover |
亠 |
above, lid |
艮 |
stopping |
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禾 |
grain |
⻖ |
hill |
⺮ |
bamboo |
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刂 |
sword, cut |
攵 |
whip |
隹 |
small bird |
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厂・广 |
cliff |
頁 |
page |
寸 |
inch |
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灬 |
fire |
彳 |
walk slowly |
又 |
again |
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尸 |
corpse |
罒 |
net |
⺼ |
body part |
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巾 |
cloth |
犭 |
dog |
牜 |
cow |
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几 |
table |
斗 |
measure |
匕 |
spoon |
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戈 |
axe, halberd |
斤 |
axe |
礻 |
altar, spiritual |
【ホン / もと】book, present, main, origin, true, real
Books are made from cut trees (木).
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男【 ダン、 ナン / おとこ、 お 】male; man
A man with the strength (力) to work on rice fields (田).
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語【 ゴ / かたる、 かたらう 】word, speech, language
Five (五) mouths (口) speak (言) five languages.
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金【 キン、 コン、 ゴン / かね 】gold, money
Money is everything (全).
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待【 タイ / ま(つ) 】wait, depend on
A person (亻) waits at the temple (寺).
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明【メイ、 ミョウ / あか(るい) 】bright, light
The sun (日) and moon (月) are bright.
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動【ドウ / うご(く)】move, motion, change, confusion, shift
It takes a lot of strength (力) for something heavy (重) to move.
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理【リ】logic, arrangement, reason, justice, truth
It is logical for a king (王) to rule over a village (里).
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音【 オン / おと、 ね 】sound, noise
The sound wakes you at the rise (立) of day (日).
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野【 ヤ / の 】plains, field, rustic, civilian life
When you leave the village (里), you must take care of the fields in advance (予).
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意【 イ 】idea, mind, heart, taste, thought, desire
An idea is the sound (音) of your heart (心).
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海【 カイ / うみ 】sea, ocean
All (毎) the water (氵) is in the sea.
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強【 キョウ、 ゴウ / つよ(い) 】strong
Strength is being able to hunt bugs (虫) with bow (弓) and arrow.
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集【 シュウ / あつ(める) 】gather, meet, congregate, swarm, flock
Small birds (隹) gather on the tree (木).
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空【 クウ / そら、 から、 あ(く)、 す(く)、 むな(しい) 】empty, sky, void, vacant, vacuum
The sky is the void (穴) over all manmade (工) things.
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切【 セツ、 サイ / き(る) 】cut, cutoff, be sharp
Cut with seven (七) swords (刀).
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買【 バイ / か(う) 】buy
I buy shellfish (貝) caught with a net (罒).
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黒【くろい】black
The fire (灬) that burned down the village (里) turned everything to black.
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花【カ / はな】flower; blossom; bloom
The grass (艹) changed (化) into a flower.
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政【 セイ / まつりごと 】politics, government
If you don’t do the correct (正) thing, the government will whip (攵) you.
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機【 キ 】machine, airplane, opportunity
How many (幾) trees (木) does it take to create that wooden mechanism?
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続【 ゾク / つづ(く) 】continue, series, sequel
We will continue selling (売) threads (糸).
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数【 スウ / かず、 かぞ(える) 】number, strength, fate, law, figures
A slave woman (女) is whipped (攵) and forced to count grains of rice (米).
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認【 ニン / みと(める)、したた(める) 】acknowledge, witness, recognize
I witnessed someone being forced to speak (言) by having a blade (刃) pointed at their heart (心).
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情【 ジョウ、セイ / なさ(け) 】feelings, emotion, passion.
In their heart (忄), that person feels blue (青).
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変【 ヘン / か(わる) 】unusual, change, strange
That red (赤) color is slowly (夂) changing into a more unusual hue.
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果【 カ / は(たす) 】fruit, reward, carry out, achieve, complete
The trees (木) in our fields (田) are finished growing and will bear fruit.
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必【 ヒツ / かなら(ず) 】invariably, certain, inevitable
Cross my heart (心), I will definitely keep my promise.
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限【 ゲン / かぎ(る) 】limit, restrict
We are stopping (艮) here because that hill (⻖) is restricted.
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働【 ドウ / はたら(く) 】work
That person (亻) moves (動) a lot while working.
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好【 コウ / この(む)、 す(く) 】fond, pleasing, like something
Not every woman (女) likes children (子).
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退【 タイ / しりぞ(く)、 ひ(く)、 の(く)、 ど(く) 】retreat, withdraw, retire, reject
We are stopping (艮) and retreating from this path (⻌).
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若【 ジャク / わか(い)、も(し) 】young
To your right (右), there are young people lying on the grass (艹).
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美【 ビ、 ミ / うつく(しい) 】beauty, beautiful
The big (大) sheep (羊) is beautiful.
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望【 ボウ / のぞ(む)、 もち】ambition, full moon, hope, desire, aspire to, expect
The king (王) hopes for the moon (月) to disappear (亡).
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識【 シキ / し(る) 】know
We know not to speak (言) at the sound (音) of the halberd (戈).
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他【 タ / ほか 】other, another
There are other people (亻) in the world (世).
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苦【 ク / くる(しい)、にが(い) 】suffering, bitter
The old (艹) grass (古) is so bitter it's complete suffering to eat it.
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絶【 ゼツ / た(える) 】discontinue, unparalleled
Threads (糸) in that color (色) have been discontinued.
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折【 セツ、シャク / お(る)、おり 】fold, break, fracture
They broke my hand (扌) with an axe (斤).
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晴【 セイ / は(れる) 】clear up
If the day (日) is clear, you can see the blue (青) sky.
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精【 セイ、ショウ / しら(げる) 】refined, ghost, fairy, energy
Spirits eat blue (青) rice (米).
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盗【 トウ / ぬす(む) 】steal, rob
Next (次), I will steal the plates (皿).
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娘【 ジョウ / むすめ、こ 】daughter, girl
Their daughter is a good (良) woman (女).
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嵐【 ラン / あらし 】storm, tempest
The storm sounds like the wind (風) trapped beneath a mountain (山).
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