100 Most Common Japanese Kanji List & Printable Visual Flashcard Chart
The top 100 highest-frequency Japanese kanji account for nearly 45% of all characters you will see on street signs, menus, and beginner books. Master them first with one unified picture per character.
Ninja (にん) hitman (ひと) wearing jeans (じん), working at Nintendo... just your typical Japanese person...
The boy hit-o (ひと) his knee and now it’s itchy (いち). Thank God it’s-u (いつ) just one knee.
In a bright sun beam (び), Mr. Hiroki (ひ) can finally see why his “knee is itchy” (にち)! Must be from all the karate (か) and jiu-jitsu (じつ)!
“Ooooo!!” (おお), what a fight! Definitely no tie (たい) today, the big guy will win all the diamonds (だい)...
Ms. Toe-shi (とし), always wearing linen (ねん), makes every year fun for us...
The man pleaded: “I’m exit-ing! Don’t shoots-u (しゅつ)!”... But the dark (だ) evil samurai wanted him dead (で) anyway...
The boy in Hong Kong, is reading a book about Honda (ほん) Motors (もと).
If chewing (ちゅう) gum is all natural calories (なか), then why... cut it in the middle?!!
Just a happy child with his pet sheep (し) eating cold (こ) soup (す)...
When you See Mr. Ken (けん) giving out free samples, scream: “me! me! me! (み)”
For some reason, the coke (こく) country king, has really cool knees (くに)...
Ever since the plant grew above (あ) ground, it’s been way (うえ) too many jokes (じょう)...
The man divided the sacred log, and the city was hit by a typhoon (ふん) of waffle-throwing (わ) baboons (ぶ or ぶん)
The tree of life on the shore (しょう) protects the city from evil (い) kittens (き) in hats (は). All with its light saber (せい) and oolong tea (う).
Just a bunch of gyozas (ぎょう) in coats (こう) eating (い) yuzu (ゆ) screaming “go!”, playing on a slide...
Knee (に) connects Two crucial parts that make your foot (ふた) work.
Ken (けん), the baby sun, is eating candy (かん) in the empty space, while waiting for his eye doctor (あいだ) ma (ま).
In the old Toki-o (とき) Jesus (じ) rang the church bell so you could tell the time...
Coffee and cake (け) is the key (き) to energy in the morning.
Samurai won a stack of jewels (じゅう) for the 10/10 sword performance, all done on his toes (とお).
On a (おんな) good day, new (にょ) baby, is the best job (じょ) a woman can have.
Even a mini (み) sandwich (さん) still has three distinct parts.
Front row seats for the zen (ぜん) maestro (まえ) performance.
When entering a new (にゅう) tent with an eagle (い) design, make sure to first say hi (はい)....
The Chief (ちい) Shogun (しょう) was impressed with the intricate details on the small needle.
Mr. Snowman is not very happy about Godzilla (ご) in a coat (こう) skiing behind his back...
Nagano City (なが) is all about long-necks, long scarves, and eating nachos (ちょう).
Just a cool dark (くだ) cat (か) in awesome (お) shittake (した) hat drinking from a geyser (げ) deep below the ground...
For some reason, this boy loves studying his gas cooker (がく) manual (まな)...
It takes guts-u (がつ) to get-su (げつ) to the moon and retrieve the tsunami key (つき)...
Nanny (なに) leaned-in to see what’s inside the mailbox. Turns out, it was just naan (なん) bread...
Cool (く), lucky (き) tourists come from all over Japan, to see the original rice (らい) grain.
Hannah, she (はなし) can't believe she got a waffle (わ) cake and her dream talking cat for birthday!!
If it’s cloudy, drive up the Mountain on your yamaha (やま). There is always sun (さん) at the top.
Don’t dare attack-a (たか) the Tall Koala (こう) Headquarters, they are heavily guarded!!
The Lima (いま) times reported that the con-artist (こん) who changed all the clocks to “Now” has finally been caught.
A girl is writing a very short (しょ) story about kangaroos (か)...
Number five it’s(u) (いつ) actually just a golf (ご) cart.
It’s May (めい) the ninth (な), and you’re about to sign your name on a very important document.
King’s (きん) gold crown rests in a concrete (こん) enclosure with the calm neighbor (かね), Canada (かな).
Last package and the Indian man is done (だん)!! He can go home, eat naan (なん) and his favorite orange tofu cone (おとこ)...
Outside his tent, a chill gay (げ) guy (がい) with a sore toe (と or そと), is doing yoga with his hot cat (ほか)...
The birds were surprised, the sheep (し) is doing another four-second-yawn (よん) again!!
The magnetic (ま) samurai run ahead of everyone, sending (せん) his previous life bye-bye...
A river car-wash (かわ) center (せん)? Why not...
Sun always rises in the east, eating toast (とう), pure heat from galaxy shipment (ひがし).
The man in kimono (き) is listening in on the conversation of a monster (もん) buying a bootleg necklace (ぶん).
If Genghis Khan wants to talk about about overpriced gondola (ご) rides, he first needs to put down his kata-na (かた) and study the english language.
九ine cookies (く) or nine cucumbers (きゅう)... What will cookie monster choose??
The cool (く) daikon in a tank-top (た) is shocked (しょく) that he may soon become food...
Yaa (や) kids coming out of secret hatches (はち) to play on the forbidden yolo (よう) eight meter slide...
Missou-ri (みず) free water looks super i-nteresting (すい)...
God and his angel llamas (あま) are always waiting on top of the ten (てん) step staircase to heaven.
The tree is mocking (もく) us, it knows we got no keys (き)...
Mr. Six moves (む) rocket-fast! (ろく). Why is he still in the 6th place?
Ten Thousand people in Italy, watching a talented man (まん) wearing a pineapple-pizza costume. Let’s hope he doesn’t get banned (ばん)...
She wrote (しろ) the code to hack-u (はく) the white radish server.
She cheated (しち), and still got only seven percent. That’s bananas! (なな).
A *circle (円) represents a round shape or Japanese yen* (えん).
A typical village in Denmark (でん) gets electricity from the sun.
Father stays strong by exercising using food (ふ): cheeky peachy (ちち) dumbbells.
Whole crew (ほく) of Akitas (きた) went up north skiing...
Cool, roof-less, Mazda (くるま) car, doing crazy sharp (しゃ) turns...
With mom I’m never bored (ぼ), it’s always a haha (はは) time!!
Of course, Mr. handsome (はん) naturally cut (なか) a bunch of logs perfectly in half!!
Slow-mo motion (もも) Hyacinth Cool (ひゃく) Town is now a hundred years old!!
Toes (と) in the dirt and dog (ど) by his side, the tsunami chief (つち) lives a simple life...
When Japanese travel West, they stay safe (せい) with their niche (にし) special suitcase.
Stop texting yo (よ)! I’m reading my toe (とう) book.
Thousand is just a fancy letter T, made out of a thousand cents (せん), wearing a cheap (ち) hat...
School is a great community (こう) to make life-long friends.
Geeky youths (ゆう) really love the Me Geek (みぎ) restaurant, just right of H&M.
Powered by naan (なん), a few ambitious kids are trying to drill their way south to Mi(na)ami! (みなみ)
Rich dads really love the He Daddy Rich (ひだり) Sandwich (さ) Shop, just left of H&M.
Tomato model (とも) youth (ゆう) love to compete with their tomato friends.
Fire from a candle (か) is so hot (ほ) it generates a ton of heat (ひ)!!
The two mice (まい) look out the window every day and dream that someday they will go to/top (ごと) of Mt. Fuji.
The samurai couldn’t believe how much it rains in America (あめ). Perfect weather for some oolong (う) tea...
Resting by the cucumber (きゅう) tree is the best. Ohh Ya-ss (やす)!!
Noon is the perfect time to dry the #1 goat (ご) shirt.
Genghis (げん) Khan, came back from the dead, just to say: “Gondola (ごん) prices are evil (い)!!”
When you see your shoe (しゅ) friends playing tennis (て), wave your hand!
Just Jesus (じ) with his friend Shitake (し) in a self-driving car...
A sword in the ground means someone important, like the monopoly (もの) shaman (しゃ) is buried here.
The Jeans (じ) King gets a tsunami of cash (つか) from his cotton (こと) field. The thing is, he must first pick the cotton with his golden harpoon.
She (し) is always thinking with her heart before her oval monster (おも) brain interferes...
After a long day on kayaks (かい), it’s good to meet and just eat apples (あ).
The yakuza (や) pig named Ian (いえ) is resting at his cabin (か) home with oolong & chips (うち).
Tequila (てき) distillery was the target of a massive tornado (まと)...
To avoid a catastrophe (かた), even at home (ほう), someone is always helping grandma. She just points the direction.
Underneath the soil/earth there are intricate colonies of ants in cheap (ち) jeans (じ)...
“Mee (め) eh?” Is this cute-eyed sheep mocking (もく) us?
The perfect jawline (じょう) buddha is in the the most badass (ば) location for a sunrise prayer.
The man gave the girl a diamond (だい) ring and decided to tie (たい) the knot once he realized, there is no substitute...
A sheep (し) practicing in a field of grain. I can't believe it, what a sheep! (わたし)
A rich European (りゅう) kid took a stand at the Ritz(u) (りつ) Hotel to discuss the importance of great tacos (た).
A cow (牛) on tracks, in boots(u) (ぶつ) and a monocle (もの) during morning tsunami (もつ), that’s quite a *thing* to see...
You may not know this, but it’s actually dentists (でん) who work in rice fields. They also really love tacos (た)...
Tyrant (たい) Karate dad (からだ) wants his son to train his body, not read books.
To move a heavy box of dough (どう) through an oolong-tea gorge (うご), you need powerful protection...