Jōyō Kanji Grade 2

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The jōyō kanji is the guide to kanji characters announced officially by the Japanese Ministry of Education. Current jōyō kanji are those on a list of 1,945 characters issued on October 10, 1981. It is a slightly modified version of the tōyō kanji, which was the initial list of secondary school-level kanji standardized after World War II.

話【はなし】 talk; speech; chat; story; conversation / discussions; negotiation; argument
来【らい】 next (year, etc.) / since (last month, etc.)
理【り】 reason; principle; logic / general principle (as opposed to individual concrete phenomenon) / (in neo-Confucianism) the underlying principles of the cosmos
里【り】 Japanese league; ri; old Japanese unit of distance, approx. 3.927km or 2.44 miles / neighbourhood (under the ritsuryo system; orig. of 50 homes) / unit of area (approx. 654m by 654m)
用【よう】 business; task; errand; engagement / use; purpose / for the use of ...; used for ...; made for ... / call of nature; excretion
友【とも】 friend; companion; comrade; pal
門【もん】 gate / branch of learning based on the teachings of a single master / division; phylum / counter for cannons
夜【よる】 evening; night
野【の】 plain; field / hidden (structural) member / wild / lacking a political post
矢【や】 arrow / wedge; chock
毛【け】 hair / fur; wool / down; plumage; feathers
明【みょう】 vidya (wisdom) / mantra / the coming (4th of July, etc.)
ごと《毎》 each; every
万【まん】 10,000; ten thousand / myriad / everything; all / various
歩み【あゆみ】 walking / progress; advance
母【はは】 mother
方【かた】 direction; way / person; lady; gentleman / method of; manner of; way of / care of ... / person in charge of ... / side (e.g. "on my mother's side")
北【きた】 north / the North; northern territories / North Korea / north wind
妹【いもうと】 younger sister
メートル《米》 metre; meter / meter; gauge
風【かぜ】 wind; breeze; draught; draft / manner; behaviour; behavior / cold; influenza
分【ぶん】 part; segment; share; ration / rate / degree; one's lot; one's status; relation; duty; kind; lot / relationship; connection; correspondence / in proportion to; just as much as
父【ちち】 father
麦【むぎ】 wheat; barley; oat (oats)
半【はん】 half; semi- / half-past / odd number / unit of land area (595.8 m^2)
番【ばん】 number (in a series) / (one's) turn / watch; guard; lookout / bout; match
南【みなみ】 south
肉【にく】 flesh / meat / the physical body (as opposed to the spirit) / thickness / ink pad
馬【うま】 horse / horse racing / promoted bishop
頭【あたま】 head / hair (on one's head) / mind; brains; intellect / leader; chief; boss; captain / top; tip / beginning; start / head; person / top structural component of a kanji / pair
同【どう】 the same; the said; ibid.
道【みち】 road; path; street; lane; passage / route; way / distance; journey / road (e.g. to victory); course / way (of living, proper conduct, etc.); moral principles / teachings (esp. Confucian or Buddhist); dogma / field (e.g. of medicine); subject; speciality / means; way; method
内【うち】 inside; within / while / among; amongst; between / we; our / my spouse / imperial palace grounds / emperor / I; me
冬【ふゆ】 winter
刀【かたな】 (single-edged) sword; katana / dagger; knife / scalpel / chisel; burin; graver / knife money; knife-shaped commodity money used in Zhou dynasty China
東【ひがし】 east
当【とう】 this (business organisation or place)
答え【こたえ】 answer; reply; response; solution
朝【あさ】 morning
丈【たけ】 height; stature / length (esp. of clothing) / all (one has); everything / magnificence (of a waka poem, etc.)
鳥【とり】 bird / bird meat (esp. chicken meat); fowl; poultry
直【なお】 straight / ordinary; common / doing nothing
通【つう】 connoisseur; authority / counter for letters, notes, documents, etc.
弟【おとうと】 younger brother; little brother; kid brother / pupil; apprentice
店【みせ】 store; shop; establishment; restaurant
点【てん】 spot; mark / point; dot / mark (e.g. in exam); score; points / comma / aspect; matter; respect / counter for goods, items, articles of clothing, works of art, etc.
稲妻【いなずま】 lightning; flash of lightning; lightning bolt
知【ち】 wisdom / jnana (higher knowledge)
地【ち】 earth; ground; land; soil / place / territory / bottom (of a package, book, etc.) / earth (one of the five elements)
池【いけ】 pond
茶【ちゃ】 tea / tea plant (Camellia sinensis) / tea preparation; making tea / brown / mockery
昼【ひる】 noon; midday / daytime / lunch
谷【たに】 valley
台【だい】 stand; rack; table; bench; podium; pedestal; platform; stage / support; holder; rack / counter for machines, incl. vehicles / setting (e.g. in jewellery) / level (e.g. price level); range (e.g. after physical units); period (of time, e.g. a decade of one's life) / elevated area / viewing platform / dish tray / meal / tall building; tower
体【からだ】 body / torso; trunk / build; physique; constitution / health / corpse; dead body
走【そう】 run; race
多【た】 multi-
太【ふと】 fat; fatty / grand; magnificent; excellent
組【くみ】 set (of items) / group (of people); class (of students); company (esp. construction); family (i.e. mafia); team / typesetting; composition
切【せつ】 eager; earnest; ardent; kind; keen; acute
雪【ゆき】 snow
線【せん】 line; stripe; stria / line (e.g. telephone line); wire / ray (e.g. X-ray); beam / line (e.g. of a railroad); track; route; lane / outline; contours; form / level / division / line (of action); position; approach; policy; principle / impression one leaves; air one gives off
船【ふね】 ship; boat; watercraft; vessel; steamship / tank; tub; vat; trough / counter for boat-shaped containers (e.g. of sashimi)
先【さき】 previous; prior; former; first; earlier; some time ago; preceding / point (e.g. pencil); tip; end; nozzle / head (of a line); front / ahead; the other side / the future; hereafter / destination / the other party
星【ほし】 star; any light-emitting (or reflecting) heavenly body (except for the sun and the moon) / offender; perpetrator / star point (in go); hoshi; intersection marked with a dot / circular symbol (said to be shaped like a shining star) / bullseye / one's star (out of the nine stars); the star that determines one's fate / small dot; spot / point; score
晴れ【はれ】 clear weather; fine weather / formal; ceremonial; public / cleared of suspicion
声【こえ】 voice / singing (of a bird); chirping (of an insect); hoot / voice; opinion (as expressed in words); view; wish; attitude; will / sound / sense (of something's arrival); feeling / voice; voiced sound
西【にし】 west
図【ず】 drawing; picture; diagram; figure; illustration; chart; graph / sight; scene
数【かず】 number; amount
色【いろ】 colour; color; hue; tint; tinge; shade / complexion; skin colour; skin color / look (on one's face); expression / appearance; air; feeling / personality; character / tone (of one's voice, etc.); tune; sound; ring / love; lust; sensuality; love affair / lover; paramour / beauty; sexiness; physical appeal / kind; type; variety
食【しょく】 meal; (one's) diet; food; foodstuff; foodstuffs / eclipse (solar, lunar, etc.)
心【こころ】 mind; heart; spirit / the meaning of a phrase (riddle, etc.)
新【しん】 new; neo- / Gregorian calendar / Xin (dynasty of China)
親【おや】 parent; parents; mother and father / dealer (in cards, mahjong, etc.); banker / founder; inventor / (pet) owner / key; parent (organization); main / ancestor; forefather
場【ば】 place; spot; space / field; discipline; sphere; realm / occasion; situation / scene (of a play, movie, etc.) / session (of the stock market) / area in which cards are laid out (in a card game) / round (i.e. east, south, etc.) / field / field (gestalt psychology)
文【ふみ】 letter; writings
少【しょう】 small; little; few
春【はる】 spring; springtime / New Year / prime (of one's life, etc.) / adolescence; puberty / sexuality
週【しゅう】 week
首【くび】 neck / head / dismissal; discharge; firing (from a job)
秋【あき】 autumn; fall
弱【じゃく】 little less than; fewer than; under / weakness; the weak
社【やしろ】 shrine (usually Shinto)
自【じ】 self- / from ... / this ... (in contrast to some other ...); aforementioned
室【しつ】 room / wife (of someone of high rank) / scabbard / Chinese "Encampment" constellation (one of the 28 mansions)
寺【てら】 temple (Buddhist)
時【とき】 time; hour; moment / occasion; case / chance; opportunity; season / the times; the age; the day / tense
紙【かみ】 paper
姉【あね】 older sister; elder sister
市【し】 city
算【さん】 divining sticks / counting; calculation
細【さい】 detail; details
作【さく】 work (e.g. of art); production / harvest; cultivation; farming; crop; yield / technique
歳【さい】 -years-old
行【ぎょう】 line (i.e. of text); row; verse / carya (austerities) / samskara (formations) / running script (a semi-cursive style of kanji)
高【たか】 quantity; amount; volume; number; amount of money
合【ごう】 gō; traditional unit of volume, approx. 0.1804 litres / gō; traditional unit of area, approx 0.33 metres square / one-tenth of the way from the base to the summit of a mountain / conjunction / counter for covered containers / counter for matches, battles, etc.
国【くに】 country; state / region / national government; central government / home (i.e. hometown, home country) / province (of Japan) / land; earth
黒【くろ】 black / black go stone / guilt; guilty person
今【いま】 now; the present time; just now; soon; immediately; (one) more
考【こう】 thought / report on one's investigation into ... / deceased father
匠【たくみ】 workman; artisan; mechanic; carpenter / craft; skill / means; idea
後【あと】 behind; rear / after; later / after one's death / remainder; the rest / descendant; successor; heir / more (e.g. five more minutes); left / also; in addition / past; previous
語【ご】 language / word
こもごも《交々》 alternately; in succession
光【ひかり】 light / illumination; ray; beam; gleam; glow / happiness; hope / influence; power / vision; eyesight
君【きみ】 you; buddy; pal / monarch; ruler; sovereign; (one's) master
昼【ひる】 noon; midday / daytime / lunch
言【げん】 word; remark; statement
古【いにしえ】 antiquity; ancient times
戸【と】 door (esp. Japanese-style) / shutter; window shutter / entrance (to a home) / narrows
計【けい】 plan / meter; measuring device / (in) total; total (of)
元【もと】 origin; source / base; basis; foundation; root / cause / ingredient; material / (somebody's) side; (somebody's) location / original cost (or capital, principal, etc.) / (plant) root; (tree) trunk / first section of a waka / counter for blades of grass, tree trunks, etc., and for falcons (in falconry) / handle (chopsticks, brush, etc.); grip
原【はら】 field; plain; prairie; tundra; moor; wilderness
形【かたち】 form; shape; figure / visage
兄【あに】 elder brother; older brother
強【きょう】 a little over; a little more than / powerhouse; one of the biggest; one of the most powerful
魚【さかな】 fish
都【みやこ】 capital; metropolis; seat of government / capital (of music, fashion, etc.); city (e.g. of light) / location of the Imperial Palace
牛【うし】 cattle (Bos taurus); cow; bull; ox; calf / beef / Chinese "Ox" constellation (one of the 28 mansions)
記【き】 account; history; chronicle; annals; record / Records of Ancient Matters
弓【ゆみ】 bow (and arrow) / archery / bow (for a violin, etc.)
丸【まる】 circle / entirety; whole; full; complete / money; dough; moola / enclosure inside a castle's walls / soft-shelled turtle / suffix for ship names; suffix for names of people (esp. infants); suffix for names of swords, armour, musical instruments, etc.; suffix for names of dogs, horses, etc.
岩【いわ】 rock; boulder / crag; cliff / anchor
顔【かお】 face; visage / look; expression; countenance / honor; honour; face / influence; notoriety
間【あいだ】 space (between); gap; interval; distance / time (between); pause; break / span (temporal or spatial); stretch; period (while) / relationship (between, among) / members (within, among) / due to; because of
海【うみ】 sea; ocean; waters
絵【え】 picture; drawing; painting; sketch
外【そと】 outside; exterior / open air / other place
角【かど】 corner (e.g. desk, pavement) / edge
楽【らく】 comfort; ease / raku pottery
活【かつ】 living; life / judo art of resuscitation / action; activity
羽【はね】 feather; plume; down / wing / blade (of a fan, propeller, etc.) / shuttlecock / arrow feathers
雲【くも】 cloud
園【その】 garden (esp. man-made); orchard; park; plantation / place; location
遠【とお】 distant
黄【き】 yellow
何【なに】 what / how many / large number of; many / you-know-what; that / whatsit; what's the expression; what do you call them / what? / hey!
夏【なつ】 summer
家【いえ】 house; residence; dwelling / family; household / lineage; family name
品【しな】 article; item; thing; goods; stock / quality / flirtatiousness; coquetry
歌【うた】 song / classical Japanese poetry (esp. tanka) / modern poetry
画【かく】 stroke (of a kanji, etc.)
会【かい】 meeting; assembly; party / association; club
回【かい】 counter for occurrences / a time; an instance / inning (baseball); round; game / episode; chapter; instalment / Hui (people) / Islam