Home / Kanji quiz / How to look up unfamiliar kanji 30-Second Reading Read short Japanese or Korean stories and explore their meaning with explanations in English. ↗
How do you look up unfamiliar kanji?
Do you look up kanji like this?
Even without the reading, try radicals, stroke counts, shapes or handwriting.
01 By radical shinnyo radical 11 stroke kanji If you know the radical’s name, such as shinnyō, use a radical index or search. Narrow the list by the remaining strokes.
02 By total strokes 11 stroke kanji list If you do not know the radical, count all the strokes and use a stroke-count index. If nothing matches, check your count.
03 Describe what you see kanji with two 火 stacked vertically Try describing the parts, their number and position: ‘fire on the left, … on the right’. A component search such as ‘火 火’ can also help.
04 Use IME Pad (handwriting) Windows · Microsoft Japanese IME Switch to Japanese input, then right-click “あ” or “A” on the taskbar. Open “IME Pad”, choose “Hand Writing” and draw the unfamiliar character. Choose a matching character, insert it into a search field and look up its reading or meaning. Microsoft guide: using IME Pad ↗
Unsure of the radical or strokes? Scan it. For a printed book, scan with DuraRing and check the suggested character, reading and meaning.
Explore scan & lookup ↗ Search examples open results in a new tab. Those results may reveal the reading.
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