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Kanji are Chinese characters used in the Japanese writing system, along with hiragana and katakana. The number of kanji is estimated to be 50,000-100,000. Kanji evolved from Chinese symbols and were adapted to suit the Japanese language. Kokuji are unique to Japan, while kokkun retain the same character as Chinese but have different meanings. Each kanji has two readings: kun’yomi (Japanese) and on’yomi (Chinese).
Kanji is the term given to the use of Chinese characters, or hanzi, to represent the Japanese language. Kanji, along with hiragana and katakana, make up the Japanese writing system. Also, Japanese may use some Latin characters and may use Arabic numerals to represent numbers. Determining the exact number of kanji is somewhat problematic, but it is likely to be in the vicinity of 50,000-100,000 individual characters.
Kanji simply means Han characters. Chinese characters first came to Japan during the Han Dynasty in the 1st century. Over the next few centuries, Chinese became increasingly used in Japan. The Japanese language did not have a traditional writing system when kanji were formed, and the first use of Chinese symbols would have been simply for writing Chinese documents in Japan.
Over the years, however, the Chinese symbols have changed to be able to handle the Japanese language. Small marks added to the letters, in a system called kanbun, indicated that Chinese letters had to be changed to have various particles and endings, to make them grammatical in Japanese. This was the direct predecessor of the modern kanji.
A smaller set of Chinese symbols began to be used simply to relate sound, with no semantic value attached. This set was known at the time as man’yogana, and eventually evolved into hiragana. Similarly, katakana was born out of man’yogana, with monastic students transforming it to suit their own needs. In this way, both katakana and hiragana, the set of kana, can be seen as descendants of the kanji, rather than evolving concurrently with it.
Over the centuries, the differences between kanji and hanzi became more and more pronounced. While originally the symbols were identical, they have since changed. Most of the kanji were given alternative meanings and the set itself radically simplified in the immediate aftermath of World War II. During this time the Toyo Kanji Form List was introduced, creating much simpler forms for a wide range of words. Both forms are still in use, with the older ones known as kyujitai and the newer ones known as shinjitai.
Kokkun is the term for kanji which retains the same general character as the Chinese, but has an entirely different meaning. For example, the kanji mori symbol is the same as the Chinese sen. In Japanese the symbol refers to a forest, while in Chinese it means somber or majestic. Kokuji is the term for kanji that are unique to Japan, with no Chinese precedent. The term literally means “Chinese words created in Japan”. Examples of kokuji include the kanji for a thumbtack or freshwater catfish.
There are two main readings for any particular kanji. The first, the kun’yomi, is the Japanese reading of the character. The kun’yomi, or kun, is simply a reference to a Japanese word and pronunciation. The second, on’yomi, is Chinese reading. This roughly approximates the pronunciation of the word in Chinese, and there may be multiple ways to read the same kanji, even in the on’yomi reading, depending on the region and time the word was introduced to Japan.
