Jōyō Kanji Grade 1

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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.

名【な】 name; given name / title / fame; renown; reputation / pretext; pretense; justification; appearance
目【め】 eye; eyeball / eyesight; sight; vision / look; stare; glance / an experience / viewpoint / stitch; texture; weave / ordinal number suffix / somewhat; -ish
木【き】 tree; shrub; bush / wood; timber
夕【ゆう】 evening
林【はやし】 woods; forest; copse; thicket / bunch; line (of something); collection
力【ちから】 force; strength; might; vigour (vigor); energy / capability; ability; proficiency; capacity; faculty / efficacy; effect / effort; endeavours (endeavors); exertions / power; authority; influence; good offices; agency / support; help; aid; assistance / stress; emphasis / means; resources
六【ろく】 six
白【しろ】 white / innocence; innocent person / blank space / white go stone / white dragon tile / skewered grilled pig intestine
本【ほん】 book; volume; script / this; present / main; head / real; regular / counter for long cylindrical things; counter for films, TV shows, etc.; counter for goals, home runs, etc.; counter for telephone calls
文【ぶん】 sentence / composition; text; writings / the literary arts (as opposed to the military arts); academia; literature / statement
八【はち】 eight
百【ひゃく】 100; hundred
入り【いり】 entering / setting (of the sun) / containing; content; audience / income / beginning
二【に】 two
日【ひ】 day; days / sun; sunshine; sunlight / case (esp. unfortunate); event
年【とし】 year / age; years / past one's prime; old age
土【つち】 earth; soil; dirt; clay; mud / the earth (historically, esp. as opposed to the heavens); the ground; the land / low-quality torinoko-gami (containing mud) / (period of) refraining from construction in the direction of the god of the earth (in Onmyōdō)
天【てん】 sky / heaven / svarga (heaven-like realm visited as a stage of death and rebirth) / deva (divine being of Buddhism)
田【た】 rice field
虫【むし】 insect; bug; cricket; moth; worm
町【まち】 town; block; neighbourhood; neighborhood / street; road / 109.09 m / 0.99 hectares / downtown; main street
赤【あか】 red; crimson; scarlet / red-containing colour (e.g. brown, pink, orange) / Red (i.e. communist) / red light (traffic) / red ink (i.e. in finance or proof-reading); (in) the red / complete; total; perfect; obvious / copper
男【おとこ】 man; male / fellow; guy; chap; bloke / male lover; boyfriend; man / manliness; manly honor; manly honour; manly reputation
竹【たけ】 bamboo (any grass of subfamily Bambusoideae) / middle (of a three-tier ranking system)
中【なか】 inside; in / among; within / center (centre); middle / during; while
大【おお】 big; large
早【はや】 already; now; by this time
草【くさ】 grass; weed; herb; thatch / ninja / not genuine; substandard / laughter; LOL
足【あし】 foot / leg / gait / pace / bottom structural component (i.e. radical) of a kanji / means of transportation / money; coin
村【むら】 village
石【いし】 stone / gem; jewel
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
千【せん】 1,000; thousand
川【かわ】 river; stream / River; the ... river
正【せい】 (logical) true; regular / 10^40; ten thousand undecillion / original / positive; greater than zero
生【なま】 raw; uncooked; fresh / natural; as it is; unedited; unprocessed / unprotected (i.e. not wearing a condom) / live (i.e. not recorded) / inexperienced; unpolished; green; crude / impudence; sauciness / unpasteurized beer; draft beer; draught beer / just a little; somehow; vaguely; partially; somewhat; half-; semi- / irresponsibly; half-baked / cash / tipsiness
青【あお】 blue; azure / green / green light (traffic) / black (horse coat color) / immature; unripe; young
手【て】 hand; arm / forepaw; foreleg / handle / hand; worker; help / trouble; care; effort / means; way; trick; move; technique; workmanship / hand; handwriting / kind; type; sort / one's hands; one's possession / ability to cope / hand (of cards) / direction / move (in go, shogi, etc.)
車【くるま】 car; automobile; vehicle / wheel
十【じゅう】 ten
出【で】 coming out; going out; outflow; efflux; rising (of the sun or moon) / attending (work); appearing (on stage); one's turn to go on / start; beginning / origins; background; person (or item) originating from ...; graduate of ...; native of ...; member of ... (lineage) / architectural member that projects outward / highest point of the stern of a ship / amount (comprising something); amount of time or effort required to do something
上【うえ】 above; up; over; elder (e.g. daughter) / top; summit / surface; on / before; previous / superiority; one's superior (i.e. one's elder) / on top of that; besides; what's more / upon (further inspection, etc.); based on (and occurring after) / matters concerning...; as concerns ... / since (i.e. "for that reason") / suffix indicating higher social standing / place of one's superior (i.e. the throne) / emperor; sovereign; shogun; daimyo / noblewoman (esp. the wife of a nobleman)
小【しょう】 smallness; small item / short month (i.e. having fewer than 31 days) / elementary school / younger or inferior (of two items or people with the same name) / unit of field area (approx. 400 sq m)
女【おんな】 female; woman; female sex / female lover; girlfriend; mistress; (someone's) woman
人【ひと】 man; person / human being; mankind; people / human (Homo sapiens); humans as a species / character; personality / man of talent; true man / another person; other people; others / adult
森【もり】 forest / shrine grove
水【みず】 water (esp. cool, fresh water, e.g. drinking water) / fluid (esp. in an animal tissue); liquid / flood; floodwaters / water offered to wrestlers just prior to a bout / break granted to wrestlers engaged in a prolonged bout
耳【みみ】 ear / hearing / edge; crust / selvedge (non-fray machined edge of fabrics); selvage
七【しち】 seven / hepta-
字【じ】 character (i.e. kanji) / hand-writing; penmanship / the ... word (i.e. "the L word" = "love")
糸【いと】 thread; yarn; string
四【よん】 four
子【こ】 child / young (animal) / young woman; young geisha / offshoot / interest / new shares / player who is not a dealer (in cards, mahjong, etc.) / bird egg / -er (often of young women)
山【やま】 mountain; hill / mine (e.g. coal mine) / heap; pile / crown (of a hat); thread (of a screw); tread (of a tire); protruding part of an object / climax; peak; critical point / guess; speculation / criminal case; crime / mountain climbing; mountaineering / festival float (esp. one mounted with a decorative halberd) / wall; wall tile / temple; temple grounds / wild
左【ひだり】 left; left hand side
校【こう】 school / proof (of a book, document, etc.); counter for proofs
口【くち】 mouth / opening; hole; gap; orifice / mouth (of a bottle); spout; nozzle; mouthpiece / gate; door; entrance; exit / speaking; speech; talk (i.e. gossip) / taste; palate / mouth (to feed) / opening (i.e. vacancy); available position / invitation; summons / kind; sort; type / opening (i.e. beginning) / counter for mouthfuls, shares (of money), and swords
三【さん】 three / tri-
犬【いぬ】 dog (Canis (lupus) familiaris) / snoop (i.e. a detective, a spy, etc.) / loser; asshole / counterfeit; inferior; useless; wasteful
五【ご】 five
月【つき】 moon / month
見【み】 looking; viewing
金【かね】 money / metal
九【きゅう】 nine
空【そら】 sky; the air; the heavens / weather / far-off place; distant place / state of mind; feeling / (from) memory; (by) heart / falsehood; lie / somehow; vaguely / fake
玉【たま】 ball; sphere; globe; orb / bead (of sweat, dew, etc.); drop; droplet / ball (in sports) / pile (of noodles, etc.) / bullet / bulb (i.e. a light bulb) / lens (of glasses, etc.) / bead (of an abacus) / ball (i.e. a testicle) / gem; jewel (esp. spherical; sometimes used figuratively); pearl / female entertainer (e.g. a geisha) / person (when commenting on their nature); character / item, funds or person used as part of a plot / egg / coin / precious; beautiful; excellent
気【き】 spirit; mind; heart / nature; disposition / motivation; intention / mood; feelings / ambience; atmosphere; mood
花【はな】 flower; blossom; bloom; petal / cherry blossom / beauty / blooming (esp. of cherry blossoms) / ikebana / hanafuda / (the) best / glorious; lovely
火【ひ】 fire; flame; blaze
下【した】 below; down; under; younger (e.g. daughter) / bottom / beneath; underneath / just after; right after / inferiority; one's inferior (i.e. one's junior) / trade-in / preliminary; preparatory
音【おと】 sound; noise; report / note / fame / Chinese-derived character reading
王【おう】 king; ruler; sovereign; monarch / tycoon; magnate; champion; master / king (of the senior player)
円【えん】 yen; Japanese monetary unit / circle
雨【あめ】 rain
右【みぎ】 right; right hand side / afore-mentioned (esp. in vertical Japanese writing); foregoing; forgoing; above
学【がく】 learning; scholarship; study; erudition; knowledge; education / study of ...; -ology; -ics
貝【かい】 shellfish / seashell; shell
一つ【ひとつ】 one / for one thing / only / (not) even / just (e.g. "just try it")