Kanji

Kanji (; Japanese: 漢字, hiragana: かんじ, Katakana: カンジ, pronounced [kä̀ɲ̟́.ɟ̟͡ʑí, kä́ɲ̟́.-] , 'Han characters') are logographic Chinese characters, historically adapted from Chinese writing scripts, used in the writing of Japanese. They comprised a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used today, along with the subsequently derived syllabic (phonographic) scripts of hiragana and katakana. Kanji may have one or more readings, conventionally grouped into two categories: kun'yomi, based on native Japanese words associated with the characters' meanings, and on'yomi, based on Chinese pronunciations adapted to Japanese at different periods. Some characters, known as kokuji, were created in Japan using components and principles derived from Chinese characters.

After the Meiji Restoration, Japan made its own efforts to simplify kanji, producing the forms now known as shinjitai (新字体; 'new character forms'). Since the 1920s, the Japanese government has periodically issued lists to guide character use and education. The principal lists comprise 2,136 jōyō kanji for general use and 863 additional jinmeiyō kanji permitted in names; a further character, 勒, is scheduled to become name-permitted in December 2026.

The term kanji is a direct borrowing and phonetic reading (on'yomi) of the Chinese word hanzi (traditional Chinese: 漢字; simplified Chinese: 汉字; pinyin: hànzì), which is one of the formal terms used when referring to Chinese characters. The significant use of Chinese characters in Japan first began to take hold around the 5th century CE and has since had a profound influence in shaping Japanese culture, language, literature, history, and records. Inkstone artifacts at archaeological sites dating back to the earlier Yayoi period were also found to contain Chinese characters.