Jinmeiyō kanji

The are a set of 864 kanji known as "name kanji" in English. They are a supplementary list of characters that can legally be used in registered personal names in Japan, despite not being in the official list of "commonly used characters" ( kanji). " kanji" is sometimes used to refer to the characters in both the and lists because some Japanese names do not require the specified kanji and are written entirely in kanji. Hence, kanji can also be viewed as a subset of kanji.

A ministerial decree of 1946 limited the number of officially sanctioned kanji for public use to the 1,850 kanji. Only kanji on this list were acceptable as registered names, despite the fact that the list excluded many kanji frequently used in names up to that point. However, on May 25, 1951, the cabinet extended the set of characters usable in names by specifying the first 90 kanji.

Over the years, the Minister of Justice has increased the number of name kanji, and has a plan for further addition in response to requests from parents. As of April 30, 2009, there were 985 kanji, but this number was reduced to 861 in late 2010 when 129 characters were transferred to the kanji list, and 5 characters were transferred from the list to the list. The list was subsequently updated in 2015, 2017, and 2026, with one character being added each time, bringing the total number of characters to 864.

In Japan, name kanji are taught at the junior-high level.

History Date kanji kanji outside of kanjiGrand totalChangesUnique lettersVariantsUnique lettersVariants19461,850 -0 -1,850A list of kanji was establishedJanuary 1, 19481,850 -0 -1,850Characters outside of kanji were not allowed in naming childrenMay 25, 19511,850 -92 -1,942 +92 丑丞乃之也亙亥亦亨亮仙伊匡卯只吾呂哉嘉圭奈宏寅尚巌巳庄弘弥彦悌敦昌晃晋智暢朋杉桂桐楠橘欣欽毅浩淳熊爾猪玲琢瑞甚睦磨磯祐禄禎稔穣綾惣聡肇胤艶蔦藤蘭虎蝶輔辰郁酉錦鎌靖須馨駒鯉鯛鶴鹿麿斉龍亀July 30, 19761,850 -120 -1,970 +28 佑允冴喬怜悠旭杏梓梢梨沙渚瑠瞳紗紘絢翠耶芙茜葵藍那阿隼鮎October 1, 19811,945195166102,316 kanji list introduced -8 absorbed into 仙尚杉甚磨斉龍悠

+54 伍伶侑尭孟峻嵩嶺巴彬惇惟慧斐旦昂李栗楓槙汐洵洸渥瑛瑶璃甫皓眸矩碧笹緋翔脩苑茉莉萌萩蓉蕗虹諒赳迪遥遼霞頌駿鳩鷹March 1, 19901,945195284102,434 +118 伎伽侃倖倭偲冶凌凜凪捺於旺昴晏晟晨暉曙朔凱勁叡叶唄啄奎媛嬉宥崚嵐嵯巽彗彪恕憧拳捷杜柊柚柾栞梧椋椎椰椿楊榛槻樺檀毬汀汰洲湧滉漱澪熙燎燦燿爽玖琳瑚瑳皐眉瞭碩秦稀稜竣笙紬絃綜綸綺耀胡舜芹茄茅莞菖菫蒔蒼蓮蕉衿袈裟詢誼諄邑醇采雛鞠颯魁鳳鴻鵬麟黎黛December 3, 19971,945195285102,435 +1 琉February 23, 20041,945195286102,436 +1 曽June 7, 20041,945195287102,437 +1 獅July 12, 20041,945196289102,440 +3 毘瀧駕September 27, 20041,945209755192,928 +488 串乎云些仔佃俄俠俣俐侶俺俱倦僅傭儲兎兜其冥凄凛凧凰函刹劉劫勃勾匂勿廿卜卿厨厩叉叢吞吻哨哩喧喰喋嘩嘗噌噂圃坐堯坦埼埴堆堰堺堵塙塞塡壕壬夷奄套妖娃姪姥娩宋宛宕寓寵尖尤屑岡峨崖已巷巾帖幌幡庇庚庵廟廻弛徠忽恢恰惚悉惹惺憐戊或戚戟戴托按拶拭挨捉挺挽掬捲捻捧掠揃摑摺撒撰撞播撫擢孜斑斡斧斯昊昏昧晄晒晦曖曝曳曾杖杭杵枕杷枇柑柴柵柿柘栃柏桧檜桔桁栖梗梛梯桶梶椛梁椅棲椀楯楚楕楢榎榊槇槍槌樫樟樋樽橙檎櫂櫛櫓歎此殆汝汎汲沌沓沫洛浬淵淀淋湘湊湛溢溜漕漣濡瀕灘灸灼烏焰焚煌煎煤煉燕燭爪牒牙牟牡牽犀狼玩珂珈珊珀琥琶琵瓜瓢瓦甥畏畠畢畿疋疏瘦瞥砦砥砧硯碓碗磐祇祢禰禱禽禾秤稟稽穿窄窟窪窺竪竺竿笈笠筈筑箕箔箸篇篠簞簾籾粥粟糊紐絆綴縞徽繫繡纂纏羚羨而耽肋肘肴脇腔腎膏膳臆臥臼舷舵芥芯芭芦苔苺茨茸荻莫菅萄菩萠萊菱葦葛萱葺董葡蓋蓑蒐蒲蒙蔭蔣蓬蔓蕎蕨蕃蕪蔽薙蕾藁薩蘇蜂蜜蝦螺蟬蟹蠟袖袴裡裾裳襖訊訣註詣詮詫諏誰謂諺諦謎讃豹貌貰貼賑跨蹄蹟蹴輯輿轟辻迂迄辿迦這逞逗逢遙遁遡遜祁鄭酎醐醒醍醬釉釘釜釧鋒鋸錐錆錫鍋鍵鍬鎧閃閏閤闇阜阪陀隈隙雀雁雫鞄鞍鞘鞭韓頁頃頓頗頰顚餅饗馴馳驍魯鰯鱒鱗鳶鴨鵜鷗鷲鷺麒麓鼎榮圓薗駈實嶋盃冨峯萬埜凉禮April 30, 20091,945209756202,930 +2 祷穹November 30, 20102,136212631182,997 kanji reform removed 5 kanjis, added 191 kanjis (129 of those was from )

+5 removed from , allocated to 勺匁脹銑錘

-129 absorbed into 串伎侶俺僅冥冶凄刹勃勾匂呂唄埼堆塞塡奈妖媛宛岡崖嵐巾弥憧戚戴拶拭挨拳捉捻斑旦旺昧曖曽枕柵柿栃桁梗梨椅椎汎沙汰湧煎熊爪爽牙玩瑠璃瓦畏畿眉睦瞳瞭稽窟箸羨肘脇腎膳臆臼舷艶芯茨葛蓋蔽藤藍虎虹蜂蜜袖裾詣詮誰諦謎貌貼蹴遡遜那酎醒采釜錦鍋鍵鎌闇阜阪隙韓頃須頓頰餅駒鶴鹿麓亀January 7, 20152,136212632182,998 +1 巫September 25, 20172,136212633182,999 +1 渾June 26, 2026 (Current state)2,136212634183,000 +1 勒 Below is a list of changes made to the kanji list since its creation in 1951.

May 25, 1951 The first 92 characters of kanji were published:

This would include seven kanji which would become part of the original kanji in 1981:

...with the last one (dragon) also being simplified to (dragon).

This would also include fifteen kanji which would be transferred to the kanji in 2010:

July 30, 1976 28 kanji were added, for a total of 120 characters.

One would become part of the original kanji in 1981: .

October 1, 1981 The kanji list was introduced, which included seven of the original 92 kanji from 1951 (mentioned above), plus one of the 28 new kanji from 1976 (also mentioned above); those eight were thus removed from the kanji list. 54 other characters were added for a total of 166 name characters.

March 1, 1990 118 kanji were added for a total of 284 characters.

December 3, 1997 1 kanji was added, for a total of 285 characters.

February 23, 2004 1 kanji was added, for a total of 286 characters.

June 7, 2004 1 kanji was added, for a total of 287 characters.

June 11, 2004 No addition to the kanji was made on this date. However, a plan for 578 additions was put forward to the council on kanji of the legislative council of the Ministry of Justice. The list included certain characters in strong demand by parents for use in their children's names, such as: (, "strawberry") (, "distant", traditional variant) (, "scintillating") (, "fang")

Many others were included not for their potential uses in names (as is noted), but rather because of their frequent use and being easy to read and write. Examples include:

(, "excrement") (, "curse") (, "corpse") (, "cancer")

At this same council, the decision was made to call for suggestions on characters to be included or excluded via the Ministry of Justice website, until July 9, 2004.

July 12, 2004 3 kanji were added, for a total of 290 characters.

July 23, 2004 No additions were made. After sharp protests, the council decided to withdraw nine characters from the 489 whose inclusion had been discussed. These nine characters were: (, "excrement") (, "curse") (, "corpse") (, "cancer") (, "rape, seduction") (, "obscene") (, "resentment") (, "hemorrhoids") (, "concubine")

The 480 other characters still remained under consideration for inclusion, with one additional character added to them, namely (, "to draw up water with one's hands").

September 27, 2004 488 characters and variant forms of 209 kanji were added, bringing the total number of the kanji to 983.

April 30, 2009 2 more characters were added for a total number of 985 characters.

November 30, 2010 In late 2010, the Japanese government added 196 characters to the kanji list. The list now includes 129 characters previously classified as kanji, 11 of which are currently used in Japanese prefectures or nearby countries:

( in , Ibaraki Prefecture) ( in , Ehime Prefecture) ( in , Shizuoka Prefecture) ( in , South Korea) ( in , Kumamoto Prefecture) ( or ) in , Saitama Prefecture) ( in , Tochigi Prefecture) ( in , Nara Prefecture) ( in , Yamanashi Prefecture) ( in , Osaka) ( in , Gifu Prefecture)

At the same time, 5 characters deleted from the kanji list were added to the kanji list, making the total number of kanji 861: ( (), an old unit of measure approx. 18ml in volume, or 0.033m2 in area) ( () or (), a spindle or weight) ( (), pig iron) ( () or (), to swell or bulge; mostly used in the compound , normally rewritten with instead) ( (), a unit of weight approx 3.75g)

January 7, 2015 1 kanji was added, for a total of 862 characters.

( (), spiritual medium, oracle, shaman, shrine maiden)

September 25, 2017 1 kanji was added, for a total of 863 characters.

June 26, 2026 1 kanji was added, for a total of 864 characters.

List of kanji The list is split into two parts: 634 characters which do not appear in the list of kanji (regular-use kanji). 18 of these have a variant, bringing the number of character forms to 652. 212 characters which are traditional forms () of characters present in the list of kanji.

kanji not part of the kanji Variants are given in parentheses.

Below are the 18 characters that are variant forms of characters in the list above. For each variant form, the corresponding standard form ("non-variant" form) is in parentheses.

Traditional variants of kanji The modern form (), which appears in the kanji list, is given in brackets.加除_17_05_30 , p. 5.

Actual usage in names Usage of the kanji in Japanese names varies widely. For example, , is used in over 6,000 names, and the 53 kanji used most commonly in names are all in over 500 names each.

Jinmeiyō kanji

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