国字 (Japanese-Made Kanji)
No sooner than Kanji were being introduced to Japan, Japanese-made Kanji, known as 国字 or 和製漢字, in Japanese, were being created. 国字 have come and gone. By the beginning of the Heian Period (794~1185 A.D), around 400 such characters were recorded in the 新撰字鏡(しんせんじきょう), an early 漢和辞典. Although this lesson won’t go over hundreds of individual such Kanji, you will learn more about those that are most commonly used today.
Important 国字
The majority of 国字 are ideograms (会意文字), meaning that they are composed of more than one part with meaning being derived from the parts being combined.
As an example, the sacred tree in Shintoism known as the sakaki tree is written with the Japanese-made 榊, which is a combination of 木 (tree) and 神 (god/kami).
This is contrary to Kanji overall which are typically phono-semantic compounds (形成文字) in which one part indicates meaning and one part indicates sound. This is because 国字 were predominantly coined to represent Japanese words for which there was no suitable existing Kanji.
As another consequence of this, most 国字 only possess KUN reading(s), but some exceptional ON readings do exist for 国字 which have been borrowed into Chinese. For example, the Japanese-made 働 meaning “to work” has both the KUN reading はたら(く) and the ON readingドウ. There are even some 国字 which only possess an ON reading because the Kanji itself was formed as a phono-semantic character with the word usually having a complicated etymology based on Sino-Japanese phonotactics. An example of this is 鋲 with the ON reading ビョウ meaning “thumbtack.”
While there are still hundreds of extant examples of Kokuji in Modern Japanese writing, only nine such Kanji are in the Joyo Kanji List (常用漢字表). These Kanji are as follows:
| 国字 | Readings | Meaning | 国字 | Readings | Meaning |
| 働 | ドウ・はたら（く） | To work | 峠 | とうげ | Mountain pass |
| 畑 | はたけ, はた | Crop field | 塀 | ヘイ・ベイ | Wall |
| 込 | こ（む） | To put into | 匂 | にお（い） | Smell |
| 枠 | ワク | Frame | 腺 | セン | Gland |
| 搾 | サク, しぼ（る） | To squeeze |
In addition to these nine, there are three more 国字 that are included in the Jinmeiyō Kanji List (人名用漢字表), which are as follows:
| 国字 | Readings | Meaning |
| 匁 | もんめ | Unit of weight |
| 辻 | つじ | Crossroads |
| 榊 | さかき | Sakaki tree |
The large majority of 国字, though, are not included in these lists as they are in large point used in writing the names of plants and animals, especial fish and tree names.
| 国字 | Reading | Meaning |
| 鰯 | いわし | Sardine |
| 鴫 | しぎ | Snipe |
| 栃 | とち | Chestnut |
| 椚・橡 | くぬぎ | Sawtooth oak |
Making 国字
As mentioned, the majority of 国字 were created by combining one or more parts for their meanings to express a word for which no suitable Kanji existed. More examples of this include the following:
| 国字 | Breakdown |
| 鱈 | “Fish” + “snow” ＝ “cod” for being caught in winter. |
| 樫 | “Tree” + “hard” = “oak tree.” |
| 辻 | “Movement” + “cross in the road” = “crossroads.” |
| 畑 | “Fire” + “rice field” → “slash and burn agriculture” = “crop field” |
| 雫 | “Rain” + “down” = “raindrop.” |
| 俥 | “Person” + “cart” = “rickshaw.” |
Important 国字 to Study
While it is not difficult to find lists of 国字, it may be difficult to find ones that are most beneficial to learn. Since some are far rarer than others, the table below ranks them on a scale of 1-10 of importance with 10 being most crucial to 1 being least important. If one of your ambitions is to pass the Kanji Proficiency Test Level 1, then you would need to try to learn as many as possible.
| 国字 | 重要度 | 意味 | 音訓 | 国字 | 重要度 | 意味 | 音訓 |
| 畑 | 10 | Field | はたけ | 働 | 10 | To work | ドウ・はたら(く) |
| 込 | 10 | To put into | こ(む) | 枠 | 10 | Frame | わく |
| 峠 | 10 | Ridge | とうげ | 搾 | 10 | To squeeze | サク・しぼ(る) |
| 腺 | 9 | Gland | セン | 匂 | 9 | Smell | にお(い) |
| 辻 | 9 | Crossroads | つじ | 辷 | 8 | To slip | すべ(る) |
| 雫 | 8 | Raindrop | しずく | 凧 | 8 | Kite | たこ |
| 笹 | 8 | Bamboo grass | ささ | 俥 | 8 | Rickshaw | くるま |
| 畠 | 8 | Field | はたけ | 躾 | 8 | Behavior | しつけ |
| 喰 | 8 | To eat | くら（う） | 癪 | 8 | Spasm | シャク |
| 凪 | 8 | Calm; lull | なぎ | 鰯 | 8 | Sardine | いわし |
| 鋲 | 8 | Tack | ビョウ | 榊 | 8 | Sakaki | さかき |
| 膵 | 8 | Pancreas | スイ | 襷 | 7 | Sash | たすき |
| 枡 | 7 | Measure | ます | 桝 | 7 | Measure | ます |
| 噺 | 7 | Chat | はなし | 鯰 | 7 | Catfish | なまず |
| 鑓 | 7 | Spear | やり | 栃 | 7 | Horse chestnut | とち |
| 褄 | 7 | Skirt; hem | つま | 鱈 | 7 | Cod | たら |
| 俣 | 7 | Crotch; fork | また | 鱚 | 7 | Sillago | きす |
| 颪 | 7 | Wind from mountains | おろし | 埖 | 7 | Trash | ごみ |
| 錺 | 7 | Metal jewelry | かざり | 梺 | 7 | Mountain base | ふもと |
| 縅 | 7 | Braid of armor | おどし | 麿 | 7 | Maro | まろ |
| 蓙 | 7 | Mat | ござ | 迚 | 6 | A lot | とても |
| 鞆 | 6 | Archer arm protector | とも | 簗 | 6 | Girder | やな |
| 裃 | 6 | Samurai garb | かみしも | 硴 | 6 | Oyster | かき |
| 毟 | 6 | To pull out (hair) | むし(る) | 毮 | 6 | To pull out (hair) | むし(る) |
| 裄 | 6 | Sleeve length | ゆき | 俤 | 6 | Vestige | おもかげ |
| 栂 | 6 | Hemlock | つが | 叺 | 6 | Straw bag | かます |
| 籾 | 6 | Unhulled rice | もみ | 鴫 | 6 | Snipe | しぎ |
| 鶇 | 6 | Thrush | つぐみ | 閊 | 6 | To be obstructed | つかえ(る) |
| 杢 | 6 | Woodworker | もく | 椙 | 6 | Japanese cedar | すぎ |
| 柾 | 6 | Spindle tree | まさき | 梻 | 6 | Grave tree | しきみ |
| 聢 | 6 | Certainly | しかと | 杣 | 6 | Timber | そま |
| 鳰 | 5 | Grebe | にお | 鵤 | 5 | Grosbeak | いかる |
| 〆 | 5 | Letter ending mark | しめ | 怺 | 5 | To endure | こらえ（る） |
| 渕 | 5 | Edge | ふち | 鯑 | 5 | Herring roe | かずのこ |
| 鮗 | 5 | Gizzard shad | このしろ | 圷 | 5 | Low ground | あくつ |
| 糀 | 5 | Malt | こうじ | 鶎 | 5 | Goldcrest | きくいた |
| 椚 | 5 | Horse chestnut | くぬぎ | 橡 | 5 | Horse chestnut | くぬぎ |
| 桛 | 5 | Reel; skein | かせ | 鎹 | 5 | Clamp | かすがい |
| 嬶 | 5 | Wife | かかあ | 遖 | 5 | Good job! | あっぱれ |
| 籏 | 5 | Banner | はた | 鰙 | 5 | Smelt (fish) | わかさぎ |
| 圦 | 5 | Penstock; sluice | いり | 綛 | 4 | Reel; skein | かすり・かせ |
| 鱩 | 4 | Sailfin sandfish | はたはた | 鎺 | 4 | Habaki | はばき |
| 籡 | 4 | Temple (clothing) | しんし | 纐 | 4 | Tie-dying | コウ |
| 硲 | 4 | Gorge | はざま | 㐂 | 4 | To be joyful | よろこ(ぶ) |
| 魸 | 4 | Catfish | なまず | 椛 | 4 | Colored leaves | もみじ |
| 鮴 | 4 | Flathead | ごり | 鞐 | 4 | Fastener | こはぜ |
| 艝 | 4 | Sled | そり | 轌 | 4 | Sled | そり |
| 鯏 | 4 | Chub; dace | あさり・うぐい | 饂 | 4 | Udon | ウン |
| 燵 | 4 | Foot warmer | タツ | 鵥 | 4 | Eurasian jay | カケス |
| 蛯 | 4 | Shrimp | えび | 軈 | 4 | At last | やがて |
| 鯱 | 4 | Killer whale | しゃち(ほこ) | 簓 | 4 | Bamboo whisk | ささら |
| 鯲 | 3 | Lamprey | どじょう | 鵇 | 3 | Crested ibis | とき |
| 鮟 | 3 | Anglerfish | アン | 鱇 | 3 | Anglerfish | コウ |
| 蚫 | 3 | Abalone | ホウ・あわび | 苆 | 3 | Finish (plaster, etc.) | すさ |
| 魞 | 3 | Fish trap | えり | 逧 | 3 | Ravine | さこ・たに |
| 鵆 | 3 | Plover | ちどり | 鯐 | 3 | Young striped mullet | すばしり |
| 鶍 | 3 | Crossbill | いすか | 鮖 | 3 | Bullhead | かじか |
| 躮 | 3 | Son/brat | せがれ | 鮇 | 2 | Charr | いわな |
| 鯎 | 2 | Japanese dace | うぐい | 鰘 | 2 | Mackerel scad | むろあじ |
| 屶 | 2 | Wide blade knife | なた | 熕 | 2 | Big cannon | おおづつ |
| 塰 | 2 | Fisherman | あま | 鱛 | 1 | Lizardfish | えそ |
| 袰 | 1 | Awning | ほろ | 弖 | 1 | The phoneme te | て |