The 50 most common components
Here we present the 50 components which are used most frequently in the
2136 most common kanji (the Jōyō Kanji), prioritized by frequency
(i.e., the most useful / common components are first).
They appear in the actual form in which they are used - so components which have multiple variants appear
multiple times in the component list (although this only occurs once in the top 50).
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Contents
Every Japanese kanji is made of one or more reusable 'components', which (typically) have the same meaning
whenever they appear. This enables you to learn a kanji by thinking of it as a collection of components.
For more on this, see our introduction to kanji components.
Learning the most common components will greatly accelerate your ability to master the
kanji. Luckily, Kanshudo
makes this very easy, because every kanji is presented in cascading kanji™
format, with each component shown below the main kanji.
This means that you are constantly encountering the most common components, which quickly reinforces your
memory of them.
The most frequently occurring component is 氵, an abbreviated form of 水,
which occurs in 114 of the most common kanji! In other words, just learning
that one component will give you a head start at learning 114 kanji, which is over 5% of the kanji in daily use.
Even the 50th most common component, 巾, which means 'turban', occurs 16 times.
| 1-5 |
氵
water
|
口
mouth
|
木
tree
|
亻
man
|
扌
hand
|
|
| 6-10 |
言
say
|
糸
thread
|
艹
grass
|
日
sun
|
土
ground
|
|
| 11-15 |
心
heart
|
⻌
move
|
宀
roof
|
女
woman / female
|
⺼
body part
|
|
| 16-20 |
貝
shellfish
|
一
one
|
金
gold
|
禾
grain
|
⻖
hill
|
|
| 21-25 |
⺮
bamboo
|
刂
sword
|
忄
heart
|
攵
strike
|
十
ten
|
|
| 26-30 |
田
rice field
|
山
mountain
|
隹
little bird
|
广
stony cliff
|
頁
page
|
|
| 31-35 |
ノ
whereupon
|
力
effort
|
寸
inch
|
車
car
|
灬
fire
|
|
| 36-40 |
目
eye
|
彳
step
|
大
big
|
又
again
|
米
rice
|
|
| 41-45 |
王
king
|
立
stand
|
⻏
group
|
冖
cover / covered
|
尸
corpse
|
|
| 46-50 |
馬
horse
|
石
stone
|
𠂉
man
|
罒
net
|
巾
turban
|
Alas, 50 components is not the end of the story ... In fact, there are a few hundred, although some of them are used very infrequently. For further study, see our three comprehensive lists of components:
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