Kokuji

Kokuji are special characters used in the Japanese writing system. Unlike most characters, which come from ancient China, kokuji were created in Japan itself. These characters, also called wasei kanji, are made by combining existing characters in new ways that are not used in Chinese writing.

Because kokuji are made for Japanese words, they usually only have a native Japanese reading, called a kun reading. Sometimes, they also have a reading based on Chinese pronunciation, called an on reading, which comes from a related character. For example, the character 働 for "work" uses the on reading from the character 動, meaning "move."

Many kokuji are created by putting together characters that each have their own meaning. This helps show the idea behind the word. For instance, 働 combines a symbol for "person" with one for "move" to mean "work." Other examples include 榊 for the sacred sakaki tree, made from characters for "tree" and "deity," and 辻 for "crossroads," combining symbols for "road" and "cross." Kokuji are often used for plants and animals, like 鰯 for sardine or 樫 for evergreen oak, showing Japan’s rich natural world in its writing.

Term

The term kokuji in Japanese can refer to any character created outside of China. This includes Korean gukja and Vietnamese chữ Nôm. Wasei kanji is the name used for characters invented specifically in Japan.

History

Some kokuji go back to very early Japanese writing and can be found in the Man'yōshū. For example, 鰯 iwashi, meaning "sardine," comes from the Nara period in the 8th century. People kept creating these special characters until the late 19th century during the Meiji era. In that time, new characters were made for scientific ideas.

In Japan, a kokuji is a character that first appeared in Japan. If a character shows up earlier in Chinese writing, it is not a kokuji, even if it was made in Japan later. For example, ankō (monkfish) was made in Japan by adding a fish symbol to existing characters, but one part of it was already in Chinese texts. Another character, 鱇, is a kokuji because it was not found in any Chinese writing before.

Examples

There are many kokuji, which are special characters made in Japan. Some of these are used often in writing Japanese. Here are a few examples:

• 働 dō, means "work". It is used in the verb はたらく (hataraku), which also means "work".
• 込 ko(mu), is used in the verb こむ (komu), meaning "to be crowded".
• 匂 nio(u), is used in the verb におう (niou), meaning "to smell" or "to be fragrant".
• 畑 hatake, means "field of crops".
• 腺 sen, means "gland".
• 峠 tōge, means "mountain pass".
• 枠 waku, means "frame".
• 塀 hei, means "wall".
• 搾 shibo(ru), means "to squeeze".

These characters are also sometimes used in names and places. Some have even been adopted in China and given readings in Standard Mandarin. Similar creations happened in Korea and Vietnam too.