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Now that you know hiragana and katakana.... What? You haven't learned hiragana and katakana yet?! Well, what are you doing on this page?! Go learn them first, I'll wait.... Oh? You know how to read hiragana and katakana now? Good job! Now that you've learned the two simple Japanese writing systems, why not try learning a few of the 6,368 kanji?... Scary, huh? Actually, only about 2,000 kanji are typically used in modern Japan. The other 4,368 are rarely ever used. I would be very suprised to meet someone who knows all 6,368 by memory. If you want to see all 6,368, click here. Of course, I don't have any pronounciations, meanings, etc. on that page, so you won't really learn much.
Anyway, back in the day of Game Boy, knowledge of hiragana and katakana was enough if you wanted to read the text of video games (even if you couldn't understand it). But now, with the Game Boy Advance, more memory means more kanji. Of course, a GameCube game could probably handle all 6,368 but why would it need to? And what if you want to play a Super Nintendo or N64 game in Japanese? Chances are, you'll probably need to know some kanji to get by. So, first of all, I'll cover the first 80 kanji that children in Japan are required to learn. These kanji are learned by first graders in Japan, and by the time they get out of high school, they should know all 2,000 standard kanji.
You should probably know a little bit about what kanji are. Back in the day before Japan had a writing system, someone took some of the Chinese characters and assimilated them into the Japanese language. We are the Nihonjin.... You will be assimilated.... All your kanji are belong to us.... We will add your writing system to our language.... Resistance is futile.... Sorry, I promise, no more Star Trek jokes :-) Anyway, all these kanji got a bit confusing, so they chose a few that looked cool and simplified them to get two simpler writing systems: hiragana and katakana. You'll notice that certain kanji look astonishingly similar to certain katakana or hiragana characters. That's probably not a coincidence. What's cool about kanji, though, is the fact that each symbol has a meaning, and when you combine certain kanji into one, you get a combination of meanings (sometimes, at least...).
So, anyway, here's a little (little?) table of the 80 first-grade kanji. If you're planning on actually writing these, it would be a good idea to learn the stroke order too. You don't want Japanese people laughing at your lack of proper stroke order, do you? And yes, they will laugh (or will at least seem a bit suprised). Also, notice that most Kanji have two sets of readings: on and kun (those are Japanese words, so please pronounce them accordingly). The on reading is used when this kanji is next to another kanji in a sentance. The kun reading is used when it's on its own. This isn't always the case, though, so it's pretty confusing to learn when to use which pronunciation. If it's too confusing, at least try to learn the meaning. A couple more notes: readings that are in gray are a little less important than ones in black. Go easy on yourself and don't learn them quite yet. Also, if something is in parenthesis, it means that the kanji is pronounced like that when followed by whatever happens to be in parenthesis (i.e. the kanji for "one" is pronounced as "hito" when a hiragana "tsu" follows it). The part in the parenthesis is not part of the kanji pronounciation, so whatever is in parenthesis would be written in hiragana (of course, it's not really written in parenthesis in Japanese :-) Also, in the interest of time, server space, and the remainder of my sanity, I'm not going to make graphics of each and every kanji. I will, however, do so for the stroke order, but that will take long enough. For now, make sure your browser can display Japanese.
Key:
��� = Kanji
���� = On-yomi
�P��� = Kun-yomi
| ��� | ���� | �P��� | On-readings | Kun-readings | Meanings | Strokes | Stroke Order |
| �� | ���A��� | ���(��) | ichi, itsu | hito(tsu) | one | 1 | |
| �� | �� | ���(��) | ni | futa(tsu) | two | 2 | |
| �O | ��� | ���(��)�A�� | san | mit(tsu), mi | three | 3 | |
| �l | �� | ���(��)�A���A�� | shi | yot(tsu), yon, yo | four | 5 | |
| �� | �� | ���(��) | go | itsu(tsu) | five | 4 | |
| �Z | ��� | ���(��)�A��� | roku | mut(tsu), mui | six | 4 | |
| Žµ | ���A��� | ���(��)�A��� | shichi, nana | nana(tsu), nano | seven | 2 | |
| �� | ��� | ���(��)�A��� | hachi | yat(tsu), you | eight | 2 | |
| �� | ����A�� | ����(��) | kyuu, ku | kokono(tsu) | nine | 2 | |
| �\ | ���� | ��� | juu | tou | ten | 2 | |
| �S | ���� | ��� | hyaku | momo | hundred | 6 | |
| �� | ��� | �� | sen | chi | thousand | 3 | |
| �� | ���A��� | ��A��A�� | nichi, jitsu | hi, bi, ka | sun, day, Japan | 4 | |
| �� | ���A��� | ��� | getsu, gatsu | tsuki | moon, month | 4 | |
| �[ | ��� | ��� | seki | yuu | evening, dusk | 3 | |
| �J | �� | ����A���� | u | ame, ama | rain | 8 | |
| �� | ��� | ��� | sui | mizu | water | 4 | |
| �� | ��� | ��� | sen | kawa | river, stream | 3 | |
| �� | �� | ��A�� | ka | hi, bi | fire | 4 | |
| �� | �� | ��� | ka | hana | flower, blossom | 7 | |
| �� | ��� | ��� | sou | kusa | grass, weeds, herbs, pasture | 9 | |
| �� | ��� | ���(��) | sou | haya(i) | early, quick, fast | 6 | |
| �| | ��� | ��� | chiku | take | bamboo | 6 | |
| �� | ���A���� | ��� | seki, shaku | ishi | rock, stone | 5 | |
| �y | ��A�� | ��� | do, to | tsuchi | soil, earth, ground | 3 | |
| �~ | ��� | ���A���(��) | en | maru, maru(i) | yen, circle, round | 4 | |
| �� | ���A��� | ���A��� | kin, kon | kanekana | gold, money | 8 | |
| �E | ��A��� | ��� | u, yuu | migi | right (direction) | 5 | |
| �� | �� | ���� | sa | hidari | left (direction) | 5 | |
| � | ���� | ���A��(���)�A��(���) | jou | ue, a(geru), a(garu) | up, above, top, superior, go up, raise | 3 | |
| �� | ��A�� | ���A��(���)�A��(���) | ka, ge | shita, sa(geru), sa(garu) | down, under, below, descend, low, inferior | 3 | |
| �� | ���A�� | ��� | kou, ku | kuchi | mouth, opening, hole | 3 | |
| �� | ���� | ���(��)�A��(���) | nyuu | hai(ru), i(reru) | enter, insert | 2 | |
| �o | ����A��� | ��(��)�A��(��) | shutsu, sui | de(ru), da(su) | to exit, leave, put out | 5 | |
| �� | ���A��� | - | ou, nou | - | king, monarch, royal | 4 | |
| �� | ���� | ���A��� | gyoku | tama, dama | jewel, gem, ball, coin | 5 | |
| �� | ���A���� | ��(���)�A��(����)�A��� | sei, shou | i(kiru), u(mareru), nama | life, birth, student | 5 | |
| �� | ��� | ��� | sen | saki | ahead, before, previous | 6 | |
| �� | ��A���� | ����A����(��) | se, shaku | aka, aka(i) | red | 7 | |
| �� | ���A���� | ����A����(��) | sei, shou | ao, ao(i) | blue | 8 | |
| �� | ���A���� | ���A���(��)�A��� | haku, byaku | shiro, shiro(i), shira | white, blank | 5 | |
| �� | ���A��� | ���A�� | on, in | oto, ne | sound, noise | 9 | |
| �L | - | ��� | - | kai | shellfish, shell | 7 | |
| �� | ��� | ��(��)�A��(���)�A��(���) | ken | mi(ru), mi(eru), mi(seru) | see, watch, look, view | 7 | |
| �q | ��A�� | �� | shi, su | ko | child | 3 | |
| � | �� | ���� | ji | aza | character, letter, word | 6 | |
| � | ���� | ���(���)�A��A�� | shou | chii(sai), ko, o | small, little | 3 | |
| �� | ���� | ��� | chuu | naka | inside, middle, in, center | 4 | |
| �� | ���A��� | ���(���)�A���(���) | dai, tai | oo(kii)oo(ini) | big, great, large, many | 3 | |
| �w | ��� | ���(��) | gaku | mana(bu) | study, education, learning, science | 8 | |
| �Z | ��� | - | kou | - | school, exam, printing, proof | 10 | |
| �x | ���� | ���(��)�A���(���) | kyuu | yasu(mu), yasu(maru) | holiday, vacation, day off, rest | 6 | |
| �� | ���A��� | �� | boku, moku | ki | tree, wood | 4 | |
| �� | ��� | ���� | rin | hayashi | forest, grove | 8 | |
| �X | ��� | ��� | shin | mori | forest, woods | 12 | |
| �{ | ��� | ��� | hon | moto | book, origin, root, present, main, real | 5 | |
| �V | ��� | ����A���� | ten | ame, ama | heavens, sky, weather, imperial | 4 | |
| �C | ��A�� | ��� | ki, ke | iki | spirit, mind, vitality, gas, atmosphere | 6 | |
| �� | ��� | ���A���A���� | kuu | sora, kara, aku | sky, air, empty, void, vacuum | 6 | |
| � | ��� | �� | shu | te | hand | 4 | |
| �� | ��� | ����A��� | soku | ashi, taru | foot, leg, sufficient | 7 | |
| Ž¨ | �� | ��� | ji | mimi | ear, hearing | 6 | |
| �� | ���A��� | �� | moku, boku | me | eye (not "I"), item, insight, experience | 5 | |
| �� | ��� | ��� | son | mura | village, town | 7 | |
| �� | ���� | ��� | chou | machi | city, town, street | 7 | |
| �R | ��� | ��� | san | yama | mountain, peak | 3 | |
| �c | ��� | �� | den | ta | rice field, paddy | 5 | |
| �j | ���A��� | ���� | dan, nan | otoko | man, male | 7 | |
| � | ���A��� | ����A�� | jo, nyo | onna, me | woman, female, girl | 3 | |
| �l | ���A��� | ��� | jin, nin | hito | person, human | 2 | |
| �� | ���A���� | �� | mei, myou | na | name, fame, reputation | 6 | |
| �� | ���A���� | ��(��)�A��(���) | ritsu, ryuu | ta(tsu), ta(teru) | stand up, establish | 5 | |
| � | �� | ��� | shi | ito | thread, yarn | 6 | |
| ŽÔ | ��� | ���� | sha | kuruma | car, vehicle, wheel | 7 | |
| �� | ���A���� | ���(���)�A��� | sei, shou | tada(shii), masa | correct, right, accurate, tally kanji | 5 | |
| �N | ��� | ��� | nen | toshi | year, age | 6 | |
| �� | ���� | ��� | chuu | mushi | insect, bug | 6 | |
| �� | ���A��� | ��� | bun, mon | fumi | literature, writings, culture, style, art | 4 | |
| �� | ����A��� | ���� | ryoku, riki | chikara | power, energy, strong | 2 |
