Jinmeiyō Kanji
Search the Jinmeiyō Kanji List
Jinmeiyō Kanji Full List (Sorry, can't draw these!) (Sorry, can't draw these!)
| Kanji | Kana (kunyomi) | English | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 辻 | つじ | crossing; crossroad; street corners; (kokuji) | |
| 蔦 | つた | vine; ivy | |
| 綴 | と（じる）、つづ（る）、つづり、すみ（やか）、あつ（める） | compose; spell; write; bind (books) | |
| 椿 | つばき | camellia; (kokuji) | |
| 紬 | つむぎ、つむ（ぐ） | pongee (a knotted silk cloth) | |
| 悌 | やわ（らぐ） | serving our elders | |
| 挺 | ぬ（く）、ぬき（んでる） | counter for guns, inksticks, palanquins, rickshaws; bravely volunteer | |
| 梯 | はしご | ladder; stairs; insatiable drinking | |
| 汀 | みぎわ、なぎさ | water's edge; shore; bank | |
| 禎 | さいわ（い） | happiness; blessed; good fortune; auspicious | |
| 鄭 | ねんご（ろ） | an ancient Chinese province | |
| 釘 | くぎ | nail; tack; peg | |
| 鼎 | かなえ、まさ（に） | three legged kettle | |
| 擢 | ぬ（く）、ぬき（んでる） | excel in; surpass; pull out; select | |
| 纏 | まつ（わる）、まと（う）、まと（める）、まと（まる）、まと（い）、まとい、まつ（る） | wear; wrap; tie; follow around; collect | |
| 兎 | うさぎ | rabbit; hare | |
| 堵 | かき | fence; railing; enclosure | |
| 杜 | もり、ふさ（ぐ）、やまなし、と（じる） | woods; grove | |
| 砥 | と、といし、と（ぐ）、みが（く）、たいら（にする） | whetstone; grindstone | |
| 套 | かさ（ねる）、おお（い） | hackneyed |
The jinmeiyō kanji (人名用漢字), lit. Chinese characters for use in personal names) are a set of 843 Chinese characters 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" (jōyō kanji). "Jinmeiyō kanji" is sometimes used to refer to the characters in both the jinmeiyō and jōyō lists.
A ministerial decree of 1946 limited the number of officially sanctioned kanji for public use to the 1850 tōyō 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 jinmeiyō 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 jinmeiyō kanji, but this number was reduced to 861 in late 2010 when 129 jinmeiyō characters were transferred to the jōyō kanji list, and 5 characters were transferred from the jōyō kanji list to jinmeiyō characters.
In Japan, name kanji are taught at the junior-high level, and mastery of the name kanji is required to achieve Level 2 of the Kanji kentei, a Chinese-character proficiency test.