Budokanji Olympic Karate

Evolution of karate and karate to the Olympics

When one see the comments about the IOC Session decision to include 5 sports into the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games as a sports and karate being one of them one realizes that the karate community in the world are an uninformed ignorant lot with very little analytical capacity. As you are all aware karate started as one united structure both in traditional Okinawan karate and today’s sport oriented karate. History tells us very clearly that karate was a synthesis of many martial influences over the decades with the Chinese influence, the Japanene influence and the various South East influences which evolved  karate into what it is today. Actually speaking karate was one activity before the name karate was adopted and before that Tode or Chinese hand and previously called Ti, it was the effects of Itosu Sensei the great Okinawan karate genius and his vision to include karate as a physical education activity in the Okinawan school system, that led karate in the direction it has today. Before this karate was a effective form of civil self defense not just against untrained ruffians but also against fighting armies, when the Tokugawa and the Satsuma samurai invaded Okinawa and banned weaponry the Okinawa people went into secrecy and developed this civil empty hand self defense, although karate existed long before this, as they were a people that loved their freedom. After the introduction of karate, by Itosu Sensei into the Okinawan school system and deliberately  after extracting the effective self defense application from karate, this set the foundation for karate as we see it today. What we see today which was exported to JAPAN and the rest of the world was “children karate”. Now this not a bad thing as the approached allowed for the survival of karate until today and made it very popular and contributed to its world-wide spread, without this I am afraid karate may have disappeared or it would have been practiced by very few.  Take today the watered down styles that teach predominantly ” children karate” tend to have bigger numbers as members, as this karate is simple and straightforward. But those elaborate schools of deep study tend to have fewer students. This is a fact about other BUDO groups as well, kendo has much more members than kenjutsu and so forth and so forth. So we determine that in the evolution of many Japanese styles and especially those in the universities ” senior children karate” the students wanted to develop a competition atmosphere amongst themselves. If one looks at the various Japanese universities one will notice loyalty till they are in their adulthood. This is a matter of pride and it is in this atmosphere that one starts to understand the Sempai/Kohai system, seniors always push and control the juniors to a point of brutality sometimes,  in Okinawan it was more a teachers disciple relationship which is very different to what Japan was used  too. Japan is known to be a hierarchical society, and many wanted to shown off their group achievements. Besides there is a very serious rivalry between karate organizations and universities.  This was the ideal environment for a further dilution of the old Okinawan karate and the exported ” children karate”.

One has to take into consideration kata was always the emphasis  of the karate masters and their strategies and tactics of their styles were embedded in kata. Actually every kata is a fighting system on its own. In the old days students a maximum of two to three kata ONLY. Even Itosu emphasized kata in his ” children karate” practice.The only difference was the dangerous application was removed and his emphasis was only on physical education and development, most of the strategy, tactics and self defense technique which we developed to disable or damage the enemy were “hidden” and known by a few or even lost. So it clear that what was exported to Mainland Japan was “children karate” .
So the exported karate was further watered down when sport was introduced to the “children karate” from Okinawa, also as can we established through analyzing morgen sporting rules, a limited number of techniques we deployed into the sports system. Even the sports system was first developed under the “hitatsu ikken” mentality as an emulations as a sword men, that one strike should kill or injure and opponent, the strike we are suppose execute are to be at nerve center or organs without touching but with the intent to destroy, so we say similar to “shadow boxing with a partner” or shadow fighting. Again certain areas were forbidden and speed, distance and timing was the emphasis of this competition approach, there is evidence that this form of karate tried to emulate Kendo, and many of its rules have been taken from Kendo. Then came the introduction of karate into the west, the westerners were not happy with this “ikken hitatsu” mentality and they tried to bring in a more boxing approach but with a stop start methodology, a multiple point system was introduced in the late seventies and evolved into a multiple point system with more kicking and sweeping technique, which is the karate we see today, in the meantime another approach was developing, one where a group in Japan and America wanting more contact and more endurance. Knockdown sport karatewasdeveloped by including Amuam Thai approach and in America the contact karate with protection was introduced. All these started from Okinawan Karate and after Itosu Sensei created “children karate”. United World Karate Federation includes all these in its competition formats and includes all traditional karate kata Sao we are preserving all karate from Okinawa and Japan in one organization and one competition so we are the truly United Karate World Federation. A anyone can participate and develop themselves in all ways available.
So to the point both traditional Okinawan karate and other modern sport karate are essential for karate to survive, traditional karate from Okinawa would not have survived if “children karate” was not created because this allowed group training and mass participation, traditional karate has small dojos and one on one instruction is emphasized to teach the deeper understanding of self defense where as more recent sport is mass based and very simple and more athletic. 

I have seem comments that some people only do ” we only do BUDO karate and are not interested in sports karate” but you are actually training and teaching “itosu’s Children karate” with your large group instruction, monthly fees and systemized kata practice and kumite prearranged teaching and calling yourselves authentic and the original BUDO karate. Who are you fooling there is nothing BUDO in your karate and  with these comments you are bullshitting the uneducated and ignorant or maybe you are doing this to yourself and who are you trying to hogwash with you words. Only yourself, because you actually don’t know your karate history.

Sport karate and karate to the Olympics is good for all karate and we must embrace this like the BrucE Lee era was also good for the popularity of karate although Bruce Lee was kung fu practitioner, all in all we are either martial arts and martial sport, or just doing martial sport but think we are doing martial arts. 

We can try as much as we want today’s society is nothing like the masters of old and one is not trying their skills on the battlefield daily for survival  where they are using their skills  in life and death situation, but rather teaching many on what they believe many work if the situation arrived. But on the sporting side we have pseudo situation of winning by selective rules without killing or injuring anyone seriously. 

So really who are you fooling, maybe yourself, because you are ignorant and really are simulating what you learnt and believe this is the truth. The truth is in the kata and its analysis and the proof is its effects which unfortunately if used in its proper form and effect will definitely get you in jail. Think about this before you make comments about sport karate and traditional karate both are important for karate’s current and future development.

Budokanji Karate

KARATE HAD ITS ORIGIN IN INDIA
It is believed that about 5000 years ago a prince of Kanchipuram (Tamilnadu - India) developed the first crude version of weaponless self defence, by watching the movements of animals and birds while they fought. He applied these movements to the human body and discovered that these movements could be effectively exploited. The Prince, then experimented on 1000 slaves, to discover the weaker parts of the human body, where even a puncture with a needle could kill the victim. The prince then used the techniques that he had found successful and directed them at the weaker parts of the human body and perfected the first known art of weaponless, self defence.
Bolidharma, (known as Daruma Taishi to the Japanese) a Buddhist monk, learnt the technique of Weaponless self defence while in India, and imparted training to his monks in China. In Tamil - Karam means hand & in Japanese Karate means Empty (Kara) and Hand (te). It is a system of attack and defence that uses all parts of the body (hands, feet, elbows, fingers, etc.,) to kick, punch, chop, butt, or any other move that is effective in defending ones self. Many of these movements may seem odd to the average person, but one must bear in mind that these have been analysed and geometrically calculated so that whatever the action, a block or a punch, it is the maximum the human body can achieve. One learns that it is not the size and strength alone that wins rather it is the speed and power that are the deciding factors in making one victorious .
True KARATE is a Physical Art, a Technique of Weaponless Self- Defence and a Sport. One of its greatest attributes is that anyone, irrespective of size, age or sex can practice this Art. The degree of skill, of course, varies from person to person. However, one can practice KARATE according to his own physical capabilities. KARATE is related with AHIMSA and therefore is employed to deter an agressor from resorting to violence, rather than maim or to kill. Nowadays, if any one speaks about SELF DEFENCE, it means only Karate. Eve-teasing, chain snatching and other assaults on women are reported almost everyday. KARATE is the only fitting answer to these social evils and crimes. KARATE can be learnt by School-going children / college students or by any other citizen, irrespective of their sex.
Those who want to protect themselves from the evil can learn this art of weaponless self-defence. It can be learnt from the age of 4 till 60 years. Strength and stamina are two main requisites for learning Karate. However, KARATE training has been linked with the performance of feats of strength, viz., pulling cars by the hair, breaking granite placed on the chest or abdomen, riding a motorcycle while lying on a bed of nails, etc. These acts of strength can be performed by anybody who is strong enough and has absolutely no relation with the martial art of Karate.
KARATE - SPORT
At the end of the Meiji period (1888 - 1912), Karate was introduced into the Okinawa Prefectural Normal School and the Prefectural Number One Middle School as part of physical education in the schools. In 1952, young practitioners of Karate devised a set of rules and regulations to govern the sport of ‘free Combat’, Karate, as a means to prevent injuries and in fact, to create a sport. They formulated sunyame, a method of controlled thrusting, one sun, or one inch, short of the opponent. Thus SPORTS KARATE took form and considered a sport in Japan. SPORTS KARATE differs from self-defence Karate, in the former, lethal movements are prohibited and punches to the face should be regulated so that the blow falls short of actual contact. Contacts to the face are permitted once or twice but repetation of such contacts by a contestant on his opponent on his will render him liable for disqualification from a match. In its evolution, Karatedo has been accepted around the world. Japan is where this martial art flourished, and it was first incorporated on the sports field when Shihan Funakoshi Gichin, Otsuka Hironori, and Funakoshi Yoshihide introduced basic sparring techniques in the Karatedo practice in 1924 and 1927.
In 1957 Japanese universities started Karatedo tournaments, it is very important to notice that Karatedo training has always been systematic and the two most important parts of training are Kata (Form) and Kumite (Sparring). Both use offensive and defensive techniques in their performance, they also provide good focus and control (Kime) in the practice of these techniques. Kata is the key for improving all block and strike techniques while Kumite is a practical test in the use of these techniques. The free sparring applied in tournaments is not same as street sparring. In street sparring (Fighting) you are able to use any defensive or offensive techniques for your self-defence but in free sparring as a sport you must follow specific rules and regulations to avoid hurting your partner. Consequently rules for these kind of competitions were created so that one could practise without causing injury to their opponent. The idea of Karatedo tournaments turned this martial art into a sport as well.
The basic principle of KARATE is not to destroy an aggressor but to discourge him from resorting to further violence. Hence a good KARATE-KA should be able to control his blows at all times to avoid injury to his opponent. SPORTS KARATE is a fast event. The player has to rely on his speed, power, excellent technique, stamina, good form and clean distinctive blows to win a match. A Match has to be won within 3 mintues and therefore it leaves little time for common and simple moves which are empolyed by contestants at tournaments as such moves are swifter and easier to execute. Judge of very high KARATE calibre are entrusted with the responsibility of controlling SPORTS KARATE bouts as it is a fast sport and can be damaging, if uncontrolled. It is difficult to score in SPORTS KARATE. All techniques should be excellently executed and the contestant should be able to attack without placing himself in danger by his opponent. Only then a Point will be awarded.
KOKINO the highest medal taker institute in India : World Tournaments - 6 (2 Gold, 1 Silver & 3 Bronze), International Tournaments - 44 medals (22 Gold, 8 Silver and 10 Bronze), produced 3 Grand Champions; National tournaments - 205 medals; State, District and Club & School wise tournaments - Countless medals .
KARATE - A MUST FOR WOMEN
The world is fast evolving into a stage where violence has become rampant. Not a day passes by without the mention of some sort of violence. Women, the weaker sex, are more vulnerable to violent attempts on their person either for material gain or for any other cheap reasons. In many such cases, the woman falls prey to an attacker owing to her inability to defend herself in the right way. School Girls, College Students, Working Women, House-wives are exposed to danger from unruly elements. It is needless to say that in many cases, provocative dresses and jewellery attract the attention of brigands who attempts to make a cache.
It is time now, with deliberation on womans liberation etc. that women also try to defend themselves against external dangers. Karate is the best means of such self defence as it is an art in which the hands and legs are used as silent, effective weapons, which can be used with lightning speed. An unaware aggressor would find himself in all sorts of trouble with women who is Karate trained. Women have established themselves creditably in the field of sport.
There is nothing to prevent them from participating in Karate Tournaments, now that the martial art is emerging as a sport all over the world. Karate helps women in maintaining a good physique and does not impair them in any way. Equally well, Physiologically, no complications arise. Learning of martial arts infuses more confidence in a woman as it exercises the mind and body simultaneously. As a citizen with equality a woman shouldn’t be denied of her fundamental rights as for as safety is concerned. Karate offers the best solution, not only in defending one’s self, but also does the magic in obtaining jobs in the police, defence, public and private sector undertakings
There is a wrong conception and a myth among the larger section of people that Practising Karate among girls could infuse manly characters. This could be no way proved. This sport is as equal as any other sport where a lot of physical exertion is needed. Any sport would not affect the harmones, rather that would help you overcome your low confidence and develop your over-all personality.
KARATE - BLACK BELT

If any body say Black belt immediately even the layman can also understand it is connected with Karate a noble Martial Art. Achieving Black Belt is not the end of the art. But infact is the beginning. The prevailing situation of Kokino would be different from elsewhere in the sense that professional edge that you have got here, if you talk about achieving Black belt the coveted title, which is not the end by itself in learning Karate as any one might assume but gettting Black belt would be a definite turning point in his career. In KOKINO the rules are not made simple for you to get Black belt, its not a overnight game. The various professional qualities like Discipline, Strength, Physical stamina, Psychology related to learning techniques and Psychology related in applying the techniques would be scrutinised. The candidate’s professional maturity and behaviour in controlling the learnt techniques are definitely considered. So Black belt achiever in KOKINO is someone who has learnt the art of Karate and practises in the utmost professional form second to none in the competitive sport.
How Black Belt Came? In ancient days, only white thick cloth was used to tighten the dress with the body while practising Karate. As days passed by the white belt became faded and turned into light yellow, brown or black. When Karate was started teaching in Schools and Colleges in Japan a syllabus was preferred. At that time to denote various stages of training of Karate, various colour belts were introduced, such as White, Orange, Green, Brown and then Black.
Olden Days Black Belt - In olden times when Karate was taught in the crude form, students perforce had to convince their teachers of their genuineness and devotion to Karate-do. Emphasis was laid on maintaining discipline and loyalty towards their master, whether during the training or after. To them it was not the time of training nor the period of training that mattered. It was the physical endurance and exercises infused with the philosophical perception of Karate-do that mattered, and which they used as a way of life. To them black belt was of no significance.
To-day Black Belt - Karate-do training now-a-days has become means of acquiring physical competence and material gains. Students are anxious to become experts in a short time while instructors are keen on monitory benefits. These two desires of teachers and students are complementary and give a way to a black belter to think that he has become an expert in Karate-do. The black belt he has received is by paying exhorbitant amounts to the instructor as fees for grading. The instructor, in this case is only interested in the money he receives for grading a black belter, and is in no way concerned about the quality of the black belt students he has produced. Such an attitude on the part of the teacher and student renders karate-do fit in the movies.
Today a black belt is of little value. Unscrupulous are content with higher dans and gradings, presuming that such elevations would enhance their reputation. Little do they realise that a black belt has reached the ultimate in Karate lessons. Scant thought is given to perfection, sincere training, discipline and maintenance of the fundamental principles of Karate. As stated earlier, material benefits and the desire to achieve physical prowess and fame have taken over and remains as the order of the day. In many cases, a karate-ka falsely believes that his existence and reputation in Karate circles would be in jeopardy if he does not attain higher dans. This is a false concept as many veteran instructors are not interested in dans, but are dedicated in imparting the correct training.
Black Belt and Its Value The first thought to a layman, on enrolling in a dojo is to become a Black Belt, as soon as possible. So a question thereby arises, how soon one can become a Black Belt holder and what are the values of a Black Belt. Karate-kas have relentlessly been trained in the art first, to achieve physical power and enhancement of spiritual value. Hence at the first place it is a Martial Art for harmless selfdefence and self growth. Once we enroll ourselves in a Karate dojo we start getting training in Karate as a white Belt in that School. Internationally recognised Karate Schools have different stages of Belts on their own. Kokino the internationally recognised Karate school also have its own pattern of Belts

Budokanji

The World Budokanji Commission W.B.C. was founded jointly by Grandmaster Sir.C.S.Chew & Grandmaster Prof.Dr.Dibyendu Nag in 1991 the project was launched for the Olympic Tokyo 2020. Our motive is to include Karate-Do into the Olympics & Recognized it through the United Nation Institute for Training And Research. BUDO_KANJI is a type of Martialyogarts to learn the Translation of BUDOKANJI. Contact: olympicouncil@gmail.com +91.9874741567

Local developments and divergences from Chinese

Since kanji are essentially Chinese hanzi used to write Japanese, the majority of characters used in modern Japanese still retain their Chinese meaning, physical resemblance with some of their modern traditional Chinese characters counterparts, and a degree of similarity with Classical Chinese pronunciation imported to Japan from 5th to 9th century. Nevertheless, after centuries of development, there is a notable number of kanji used in modern Japanese which have different meaning from hanzi used in modern Chinese. Such differences are the result of:

• the use of characters created in Japan,
• characters that have been given different meanings in Japanese, and
• post-World War II simplifications (shinjitai) of the character.

Likewise, the process of character simplification in mainland China since the 1950s has resulted in the fact that Japanese speakers who have not studied Chinese may not recognize some simplified characters.

Kokuji

See also: Gukja, Chu Nom, and Chinese family of scripts § Adaptations for other languages

In Japanese, Kokuji (国字^?, "national characters") refers to Chinese characters made outside of China. Specifically, kanji made in Japan are referred to as Wasei kanji (和製漢字^?). They are primarily formed in the usual way of Chinese characters, namely by combining existing components, though using a combination that is not used in China. The corresponding phenomenon in Korea is called gukja (國字), a cognate name; there are however far fewer Korean-coined characters than Japanese-coined ones. Other languages using the Chinese family of scripts sometimes have far more extensive systems of native characters, most significantly Vietnamese chữ nôm, which comprises over 20,000 characters used throughout traditional Vietnamese writing, and Zhuang sawndip, which comprises over 10,000 characters, which are still in use.
Since kokuji are generally devised for existing native words, these usually only have native kunreadings. However, they occasionally have a Chinese on reading, derived from a phonetic, as in働, dō, from 動, and in rare cases only have an on reading, as in 腺, sen, from 泉, which was derived for use in technical compounds (腺 means "gland", hence used in medical terminology).
The majority of kokuji are ideogrammatic compounds (会意字), meaning that they are composed of two (or more) characters, with the meaning associated with the combination. For example, 働 is composed of 亻 (person radical) plus 動 (action), hence "action of a person, work". This is in contrast to kanji generally, which are overwhelmingly phono-semantic compounds. This difference is because kokuji were coined to express Japanese words, so borrowing existing (Chinese) readings could not express these – combining existing characters to logically express the meaning was the simplest way to achieve this. Other illustrative examples (below) include 榊sakaki tree, formed as 木 "tree" and 神 "god", literally "divine tree", and 辻 tsuji "crossroads, street" formed as 辶 (⻌) "road" and 十 "cross", hence "cross-road".
In terms of meanings, these are especially for natural phenomena (esp. species) that were not present in ancient China, including a very large number of fish, such as 鰯 (sardine), 鱈 (codfish), and 鱚 (sillago). In other cases they refer to specifically Japanese abstract concepts, everyday words (like 辻), or later technical coinages (such as 腺).
There are hundreds of kokuji in existence.^[24] Many are rarely used, but a number have become commonly used components of the written Japanese language. These include the following:
Jōyō kanji has about 9 kokuji; there is some dispute over classification, but generally includes these:

• 働 どう dō, はたら(く) hatara(ku) "work", the most commonly used kokuji, used in the fundamental verb hatara(ku) (働く^?, "work"), included in elementary texts and on theProficiency Test N5.
• 込 こ(む) ko(mu), used in the fundamental verb komu (込む^?, "to be crowded")
• 匂 にお(う) nio(u), used in common verb niou (匂う^?, "to smell, to be fragrant")
• 畑 はたけ hatake "field of crops"
• 腺 せん sen, "gland"
• 峠 とうげ tōge "mountain pass"
• 枠 わく waku, "frame"
• 塀 へい hei, "wall"
• 搾 しぼ(る) shibo(ru), "to squeeze" (disputed; see below); a

jinmeiyō kanji

• 榊 さかき sakaki "tree, genus Cleyera"
• 辻 つじ tsuji "crossroads, street"
• 匁 もんめ monme (unit of weight)

Hyōgaiji:

• 躾 しつけ shitsuke "training, rearing (an animal, a child)"

Some of these characters (for example, 腺, "gland")^[25] have been introduced to China. In some cases the Chinese reading is the inferred Chinese reading, interpreting the character as a phono-semantic compound (as in how on readings are sometimes assigned to these characters in Chinese), while in other cases (such as 働), the Japanese on reading is borrowed (in general this differs from the modern Chinese pronunciation of this phonetic). Similar coinages occurred to a more limited extent in Korea and Vietnam.
Historically, some kokuji date back to very early Japanese writing, being found in the Man'yōshū,for example – 鰯 iwashi "sardine" dates to the Nara period (8th century) – while they have continued to be created as late as the late 19th century, when a number of characters were coined in the Meiji era for new scientific concepts. For example, some characters were produced as regular compounds for some (but not all) SI units, such as 粁 (米 "meter" + 千 "thousand, kilo-") for kilometer – see Chinese characters for SI units for details.
In Japan the kokuji category is strictly defined as characters whose earliest appearance is in Japan. If a character appears earlier in the Chinese literature, it is not considered a kokuji even if the character was independently coined in Japan and unrelated to the Chinese character (meaning "not borrowed from Chinese"). In other words, kokuji are not simply characters that were made in Japan, but characters that were first made in Japan. An illustrative example is ankō (鮟鱇^?,monkfish). This spelling was created in Edo period Japan from the ateji (phonetic kanji spelling) 安康 for the existing word ankō by adding the 魚 radical to each character – the characters were "made in Japan". However, 鮟 is not considered kokuji, as it is found in ancient Chinese texts as a corruption of 鰋 (魚匽). 鱇 is considered kokuji, as it has not been found in any earlier Chinese text. Casual listings may be more inclusive, including characters such as 鮟.^[26] Another example is 搾, which is sometimes not considered kokuji due to its earlier presence as a corruption of Chinese 榨.

Kokkun

In addition to kokuji, there are kanji that have been given meanings in Japanese different from their original Chinese meanings. These are not considered kokuji but are instead called kok‌kun (国訓) and include characters such as:

Char.	Japanese		Chinese
	Reading	Meaning	Pinyin	Meaning
藤	fuji	wisteria	téng	rattan, cane, vine[27]
沖	oki	offing, offshore	chōng	rinse, minor river (Cantonese)
椿	tsubaki	Camellia japonica	chūn	Toona spp.
鮎	ayu	sweetfish	nián	catfish (rare, usually written 鯰)

Types of Kanji: by category

Main article: Chinese character classification

Han-dynasty scholar Xu Shen in his 2nd-century dictionary Shuowen Jiezi classified Chinese characters into six categories (Chinese: 六書 liùshū, Japanese: rikusho). The traditional classification is still taught but is problematic and no longer the focus of modern lexicographic practice, as some categories are not clearly defined, nor are they mutually exclusive: the first four refer to structural composition, while the last two refer to usage.

Shōkei moji (象形文字)

Shōkei (Mandarin: xiàngxíng) characters are pictographic sketches of the object they represent. For example, 目 is an eye, while 木 is a tree. (Shōkei 象形 is also the Japanese word for Egyptianhieroglyphs). The current forms of the characters are very different from the originals, though their representations are more clear in oracle bone script and seal script. These pictographic characters make up only a small fraction of modern characters.

Shiji moji (指事文字)

Shiji (Mandarin: zhǐshì) characters are ideographs, often called "simple ideographs" or "simple indicatives" to distinguish them and tell the difference from compound ideographs (below). They are usually simple graphically and represent an abstract concept such as 上 "up" or "above" and 下 "down" or "below". These make up a tiny fraction of modern characters.

Kaii moji (会意文字)

Kaii (Mandarin: huìyì) characters are compound ideographs, often called "compound indicatives", "associative compounds", or just "ideographs". These are usually a combination of pictographs that combine semantically to present an overall meaning. An example of this type is 休 (rest) from 亻 (person radical) and 木 (tree). Another is the kokuji 峠 (mountain pass) made from 山 (mountain), 上 (up) and 下 (down). These make up a tiny fraction of modern characters.

Keisei moji (形声文字)

Keisei (Mandarin: xíngshēng) characters are phono-semantic or radical-phonetic compounds, sometimes called "semantic-phonetic", "semasio-phonetic", or "phonetic-ideographic" characters, are by far the largest category, making up about 90% of the characters in the standard lists; however, some of the most frequently used kanji belong to one of the three groups mentioned above, so keisei moji will usually make up less than 90% of the characters in a text. Typically they are made up of two components, one of which (most commonly, but by no means always, the left or top element) suggests the general category of the meaning or semantic context, and the other (most commonly the right or bottom element) approximates the pronunciation. The pronunciation relates to the original Chinese, and may now only be distantly detectable in the modern Japanese on'yomi of the kanji; it generally has no relation at all to kun'yomi. The same is true of the semantic context, which may have changed over the centuries or in the transition from Chinese to Japanese. As a result, it is a common error in folk etymology to fail to recognize a phono-semantic compound, typically instead inventing a compound-indicative explanation.

Tenchū moji (転注文字)

Tenchū (Mandarin: zhuǎnzhù) characters have variously been called "derivative characters", "derivative cognates", or translated as "mutually explanatory" or "mutually synonymous" characters; this is the most problematic of the six categories, as it is vaguely defined. It may refer to kanji where the meaning or application has become extended. For example, 楽 is used for 'music' and 'comfort, ease', with different pronunciations in Chinese reflected in the two differenton'yomi, gaku 'music' and raku 'pleasure'.

Kasha moji (仮借文字)

Kasha (Mandarin: jiǎjiè) are rebuses, sometimes called "phonetic loans". The etymology of the characters follows one of the patterns above, but the present-day meaning is completely unrelated to this. A character was appropriated to represent a similar sounding word. For example, 来 in ancient Chinese was originally a pictograph for "wheat". Its syllable was homophonous with the verb meaning "to come", and the character is used for that verb as a result, without any embellishing "meaning" element attached. The character for wheat 麦, originally meant "to come", being a keisei moji having 'foot' at the bottom for its meaning part and "wheat" at the top for sound. The two characters swapped meaning, so today the more common word has the simpler character. This borrowing of sounds has a very long history.

Related symbols

See also: Japanese typographic symbols

The iteration mark (々) is used to indicate that the preceding kanji is to be repeated, functioning similarly to a ditto mark in English. It is pronounced as though the kanji were written twice in a row, for example iroiro (色々^?, "various") and tokidoki (時々^?, "sometimes"). This mark also appears in personal and place names, as in the surname Sasaki (佐々木). This symbol is a simplified version of the kanji 仝, a variant of dō (同^?, "same").
Another abbreviated symbol is ヶ, in appearance a small katakana "ke", but actually a simplified version of the kanji 箇, a general counter. It is pronounced "ka" when used to indicate quantity (such as 六ヶ月, rokkagetsu "six months") or "ga" in place names like Kasumigaseki (霞ヶ関^?).

Collation

Kanji, whose thousands of symbols defy ordering by conventions such as those used for the Latin script, are often collated using the traditional Chinese radical-and-stroke sorting method. In this system, common components of characters are identified; these are called radicals. Characters are grouped by their primary radical, then ordered by number of pen strokes within radicals. For example, the kanji character 桜, meaning "cherry", is sorted as a ten-stroke character under the four-stroke primary radical 木 meaning "tree". When there is no obvious radical or more than one radical, convention governs which is used for collation.
Other kanji sorting methods, such as the SKIP system, have been devised by various authors.
Modern general-purpose Japanese dictionaries (as opposed to specifically character dictionaries) generally collate all entries, including words written using kanji, according to their kanarepresentations (reflecting the way they are pronounced). The gojūon ordering of kana is normally used for this purpose.

Kanji education

An image that lists most joyo-kanji, according to Halpern's KLD indexing system, with kyo-iku kanji color-coded by grade level.

Japanese school children are expected to learn 1006 basic kanji characters, the kyōiku kanji, before finishing the sixth grade. The order in which these characters are learned is fixed. Thekyōiku kanji list is a subset of a larger list, originally of 1945 kanji characters, in 2010 extended to 2136, known as the jōyō kanji – characters required for the level of fluency necessary to read newspapers and literature in Japanese. This larger list of characters is to be mastered by the end of the ninth grade.^[28] Schoolchildren learn the characters by repetition and radical.
Students studying Japanese as a foreign language are often required by a curriculum to acquire kanji without having first learned the vocabulary associated with them. Strategies for these learners vary from copying-based methods to mnemonic-based methods such as those used inJames Heisig's series Remembering the Kanji. Other textbooks use methods based on theetymology of the characters, such as Mathias and Habein's The Complete Guide to Everyday Kanji and Henshall's A Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters. Pictorial mnemonics, as in the text Kanji Pict-o-graphix, are also seen.
The Japanese government provides the Kanji kentei (日本漢字能力検定試験 Nihon kanji nōryoku kentei shiken; "Test of Japanese Kanji Aptitude"), which tests the ability to read and write kanji. The highest level of the Kanji kentei tests about six thousand kanji.

See also