I think most people here know that the Kanji (ideograms) that the Japanese use in their language originated from China. However, there are some Kanji that were invented by the Japanese, they are called Kokuji (国字) which can be literally translated as national characters. In this article, we will discuss a bit about these Japanese kanji.
The Kokuji are created through the combination of existing components (radicals), it is not exactly known how many Kokuji exist, since throughout the history of Japan, anyone could create an ideogram, and many have ceased to be used. It is believed that there are more than 400 Kokuji, but most of them are rarely used.
Kokuji – Ideograms or Kanjis of Japan
Although the national kanji do not have a direct connection to the Chinese language, some have the ON reading, due to their radical, or the combination and similarity with some other kanji. Below is a list of the most common and used Kokuji:
Responsive Table: Scroll the table sideways with your finger >>
| Kanji | On | Kun | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 働 | ドウ | はたら.く | Work |
| 込 | — | こむ、こめる | crowded, mix, in volume |
| 搾 | サク | しぼる | Squeeze, squeezer |
| 峠 | — | とうげ | Mountain peak, mountain pass, climax, summit |
| 畑 | — | はた、はたけ | Farm, field, garden |
| 匁 | — | もんめ | Monme (3.75 g) Old weight measure |
| 枠 | — | わく | Frame, structure, spool, cylinder |
| 塀 | ヘイ | — | Fence, wall |
| 腺 | セン | — | Gland |
| 榊 | — | さかき | Sakaki tree (Tree) |
| 辻 | つじ | crossing, corner, intersection, street | |
| 匂 | にお.う, にお.い, にお.わせる | fragrant, smell (used in the verb Niou) | |
| 躾 | しつ.ける, しつけ | Training, upbringing, education |
While many know that Japan imported many ideograms from China, in fact, China also took some Kokuji from the Japanese language and imported them into Chinese. For example, they imported the ideogram 腺 (Gland).
Kokuji is not something recent. The first reports of an ideogram created in Japan were before the year 759AD. Meanwhile, the most recent Kokuji was created during the Meiji Era.
Unfortunately, we will not see a new Kokuji anytime soon. Kanji is increasingly losing its space to hiragana and katakana even though it is super necessary. Several words that used Kanji, including Kokuji, are now written with Kana.
I want to show a few more Kokuji even though their use is uncommon. I will leave a table below with some more kanji. Keep in mind that the Kanji in the table below are likely uncommon and written in another more common way.
Responsive Table: Scroll the table sideways with your finger >>
| Kanji | ON | KUN | Meaning |
| 杢 | もく | woodworker, carpenter, carver | |
| 圷 | あくつ | low land | |
| 噺 | はなし | conversation | |
| 噸 | トン | tonnage | |
| 凧 | いかのぼり、 たこ | kite | |
| 凩 | こがらし | winter wind | |
| 俣 | また; ばた | groin, thigh | |
| 麿 | まろ | I, you | |
| 糎 | センチ、 センチメートル | Centimeter |
We notice the use of Kokuji to write words of foreign origin that are currently written with katakana.
There are thousands of other Kanji that are Kokuji that we did not mention in the table above, we will not examine them, because their use is rare.
Kokkun – Different Meanings
In addition to kokuji, there is Kokkun (国訓). These ideograms called Kokkun are Chinese ideograms, but they have a different meaning in Japan. There are many ideograms like this. Some of them are listed in the table below:
| Ideogram. | Japanese | Chinese | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | Meaning | Pinyin | Meaning | |
| 藤 | fuji | Wisteria | Teng | Cane, vine |
| 沖 | oki | open ocean, open sea | Chong | wash, smaller river |
| 椿 | tsubaki | Camellia, event | Chun | Toona |
| 鮎 | ayu | Ayu (fish) | Nian | Catfish (usually written 鯰) |
The ideograms underwent many changes when imported to Japan. Not only in their meaning but also in their pronunciation. This is one of the main reasons for the existence of many readings in a kanji. I hope you enjoyed the article.
This article was written during Japanese Week! Take the opportunity and watch video lessons on how to study Japanese by clicking on the image below:
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