Jinmeiyo kanji
Encyclopedia
The are a set of 861 Chinese character
Chinese character
Chinese characters are logograms used in the writing of Chinese and Japanese , less frequently Korean , formerly Vietnamese , or other languages...

s known as the "name kanji" in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

. They are a supplementary set of characters
Character (computing)
In computer and machine-based telecommunications terminology, a character is a unit of information that roughly corresponds to a grapheme, grapheme-like unit, or symbol, such as in an alphabet or syllabary in the written form of a natural language....

 that can be legally used in registered personal names in Japan, despite not being in that country's set of "commonly used characters" (jōyō kanji
Joyo kanji
The is the guide to kanji characters announced officially by the Japanese Ministry of Education. Current jōyō kanji are those on a list of 2,136 characters issued in 2010...

). As a rule, registered personal names may contain only jōyō kanji, jinmeiyō kanji, katakana
Katakana
is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji, and in some cases the Latin alphabet . The word katakana means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana scripts are derived from components of more complex kanji. Each kana represents one mora...

 and hiragana
Hiragana
is a Japanese syllabary, one basic component of the Japanese writing system, along with katakana, kanji, and the Latin alphabet . Hiragana and katakana are both kana systems, in which each character represents one mora...

. Jinmeiyō Kanji is sometimes used to mean only the 861 characters, or to mean the 2997 characters in both the Jinmeiyō and Jōyō sets. All characters outside the Jinmeiyō list in the large sense (2997 characters) are known as Hyōgaiji
Hyogaiji
, literally characters from outside the table are Japanese kanji outside the two major lists Jōyō, which are taught in primary and secondary school, and Jinmeiyō, which are additional kanji that officially are allowed for use in personal names....

.

A ministerial decree of 1946 limited the number of officially sanctioned kanji
Kanji
Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...

 for public use to the 1850 tōyō kanji
Toyo kanji
The tōyō kanji, also known as the Tōyō kanjihyō are the result of a reform of the Kanji characters of Chinese origin in the Japanese written language. They were the kanji declared "official" by the Japanese on November 16, 1946...

. Only kanji on this list were acceptable as registered names, despite the fact that the list excluded many kanji frequently used in names up to that point. However, on May 25, 1951, the cabinet extended the set of characters usable in names by specifying the first 90 jinmeiyō kanji.

Over the years, the Minister of Justice has increased the number of name kanji, and has a plan for further addition in response to requests from parents. As of April 30, 2009, there were 985 jinmeiyō kanji, but this number was reduced to 861 in late 2010 when 124 jinmeiyō characters were transferred to the jōyō kanji list.

In Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, name kanji are taught at the junior-high level, and mastery of the name kanji is required to achieve Level 2 of the Kanji kentei
Kanji kentei
The , also known as , or , is a test of kanji ability.There are 12 levels with level 10 being the easiest and level 1 the most difficult. The test examines ability to read and write kanji, to understand their meanings and use them correctly in sentences, and to identify correct stroke order...

, a Chinese-character proficiency test.

Before September 27, 2004, there were 2232 government-designated jinmeiyō kanji used in personal and geographical names, with plans to increase this list by 578 kanji in the near future. This was the largest increase since World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. The plan had not been without controversy, however. For example, the Chinese characters for "cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...

", "hemorrhoid
Hemorrhoid
Hemorrhoids or haemorrhoids , are vascular structures in the anal canal which help with stool control. They become pathological or piles when swollen or inflamed. In their physiological state they act as a cushion composed of arterio-venous channels and connective tissue that aid the passage of...

s", "corpse" and "excrement", as well as parts of compound words (words created from two or more Chinese characters) meaning "curse", "prostitute", and "rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...

", are among the proposed additions to the list. This is because no measures were taken to determine the appropriateness of the kanji proposed, with the committee deciding that parents could make such decisions themselves. However, the government will seek input from the public before approving the list. Some of these kanji have led to speculation that the "odd" kanji being added to the names list are being done so in an attempt to make a de-facto expansion of the Jōyō Kanji List, rather than with the serious idea that anyone will use them in names. The idea of reducing the number of kanji in use has been a politically contentious issue, with many believing that kanji are culturally Japanese and that people should use them frequently.

May 25, 1951

First 92 characters of jinmeiyō kanji were published:
Seven of them were later transferred to the jōyō kanji
Joyo kanji
The is the guide to kanji characters announced officially by the Japanese Ministry of Education. Current jōyō kanji are those on a list of 2,136 characters issued in 2010...

: , the last one becoming (dragon).

July 30, 1976

28 kanji
Kanji
Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...

 were added, for a total of 120 characters.
One was later transferred to the jōyō kanji
Joyo kanji
The is the guide to kanji characters announced officially by the Japanese Ministry of Education. Current jōyō kanji are those on a list of 2,136 characters issued in 2010...

: .

October 1, 1981

Introduction of the jōyō kanji
Joyo kanji
The is the guide to kanji characters announced officially by the Japanese Ministry of Education. Current jōyō kanji are those on a list of 2,136 characters issued in 2010...

 list, which includes the 8 characters mentioned above; those 8 are thus deleted from the jinmeyō kanji list.
54 other characters are added for a total of 166 name characters.

March 1, 1990

118 kanji
Kanji
Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...

 were added for a total of 284 characters.

June 11, 2004

No addition to the jinmeiyō kanji was made on this date. However, a plan for 578 additions was put forward to the council on jinmeiyō kanji of the legislative council of the Ministry of Justice. The list included certain characters in strong demand by parents for use in their children's names, such as: (ichigo, "strawberry") (haruka, "distant", traditional variant
Kyujitai
Kyūjitai, literally "old character forms" , are the traditional forms of kanji, Chinese written characters used in Japanese. Their simplified counterparts are shinjitai, "new character forms". Some of the simplified characters arose centuries ago and were in everyday use in both China and Japan,...

) (akira, "scintillating") (kiba, "fang")

Many others were included not for their potential uses in names (as is noted), but rather because of their frequent use and are easy to read and write. Examples include:
(kuso, "excrement") (noroi, "curse") (shikabane, "corpse") (gan, "cancer")

At this same council, the decision was made to call for suggestions on characters to be included or excluded via the Ministry of Justice website, until July 9, 2004.

July 23, 2004

No additions were made. After sharp protests, the council decided to withdraw nine characters from the 489 whose inclusion had been discussed. These nine characters were: (see above) (see above) (see above) (see above) (kashimashii, "rape, seduction") (midara, "obscene") (urami, "resentment") (ji, "hemorrhoids") (mekake, "concubine")

The 480 other characters still remained under consideration for inclusion, with one additional character added to them, namely (kiku, "to draw up water with one's hands").

September 27, 2004

484 characters and variant forms of 209 jōyō kanji
Joyo kanji
The is the guide to kanji characters announced officially by the Japanese Ministry of Education. Current jōyō kanji are those on a list of 2,136 characters issued in 2010...

 were added, bringing the total number of the jinmeiyō kanji to 983.

November 30, 2010

In late 2010, the Japanese government added 196 characters to the jōyō kanji
Joyo kanji
The is the guide to kanji characters announced officially by the Japanese Ministry of Education. Current jōyō kanji are those on a list of 2,136 characters issued in 2010...

 list. The list now includes 129 characters previously classified as jinmeiyō kanji, 11 of which are currently used in Japanese prefectures or nearby countries:
  • 茨 (ibara in 茨城県 Ibaraki Prefecture
    Ibaraki Prefecture
    is a prefecture of Japan, located in the Kantō region on the main island of Honshu. The capital is Mito.-History:Ibaraki Prefecture was previously known as Hitachi Province...

    )
  • 媛 (hime in 愛媛県, Ehime Prefecture
    Ehime Prefecture
    is a prefecture in northwestern Shikoku, Japan. The capital is Matsuyama.-History:Until the Meiji Restoration, Ehime prefecture was known as Iyo Province...

    )
  • 岡 (oka in 静岡県, Shizuoka Prefecture
    Shizuoka Prefecture
    is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region on Honshu island. The capital is the city of Shizuoka.- History :Shizuoka prefecture was formed from the former Tōtōmi, Suruga and Izu provinces.The area was the home of the first Tokugawa Shogun...

    )
  • 韓 (kan in 韓国, South Korea
    South Korea
    The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

    )
  • 熊 (kuma in 熊本, Kumamoto)
  • 埼 (sai in 埼玉県, Saitama Prefecture
    Saitama Prefecture
    is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of the island of Honshu. The capital is the city of Saitama.This prefecture is part of the Greater Tokyo Area, and most of Saitama's cities can be described as suburbs of Tokyo, to which a large amount of residents commute each day.- History...

    )
  • 栃 (tochi in 栃木県 Tochigi Prefecture
    Tochigi Prefecture
    is a prefecture located in the Kantō region on the island of Honshū, Japan. The capital is the city of Utsunomiya.Nikkō, whose ancient Shintō shrines and Buddhist temples UNESCO has recognized by naming them a World Heritage Site, is in this prefecture...

    )
  • 奈 (na in 奈良, Nara)
  • 梨 (nashi in 山梨県 Yamanashi Prefecture
    Yamanashi Prefecture
    is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of the island of Honshū. The capital is the city of Kōfu.-Pre-history to the 14th century:People have been living in the Yamanashi area for about 30,000 years...

    )
  • 阪 (saka in 大阪, Osaka
    Osaka
    is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...

    )
  • 阜 (fu in 岐阜県, Gifu Prefecture
    Gifu Prefecture
    is a prefecture located in the Chūbu region of central Japan. Its capital is the city of Gifu.Located in the center of Japan, it has long played an important part as the crossroads of Japan, connecting the east to the west through such routes as the Nakasendō...

    )


At the same time, 5 characters deleted from the jōyō kanji list were added to the jinmeiyō kanji list:
  • 勺 (shaku, an old unit of measure approx. 18ml in volume, or 0.033m² in area)
  • 錘 (sui or tsumu, a spindle or weight)
  • 銑 (sen, pig iron
    Pig iron
    Pig iron is the intermediate product of smelting iron ore with a high-carbon fuel such as coke, usually with limestone as a flux. Charcoal and anthracite have also been used as fuel...

    )
  • 脹 (chō or fuku[reru], to swell or bulge; mostly used in the compound 膨脹, normally rewritten with 張 instead)
  • 匁 (momme, a unit of weight approx 3.75g)

List of the traditional kanji tolerated in names

List of characters tolerated in names. The majority are versions that are not simplified (thus antiquated, kyūjitai
Kyujitai
Kyūjitai, literally "old character forms" , are the traditional forms of kanji, Chinese written characters used in Japanese. Their simplified counterparts are shinjitai, "new character forms". Some of the simplified characters arose centuries ago and were in everyday use in both China and Japan,...

) from those officially authorized. For more information, please refer to the Ministry of Justice
Ministry of Justice (Japan)
The is one of Ministries of the Japanese government.-Meiji Constitution:The Ministry of Justice was established under the Constitution of the Empire of Japan in 1871 as the .-Constitution of Japan:...

 Family Registry
Koseki
A is a Japanese family registry. Japanese law requires all Japanese households to report births, acknowledgements of paternity, adoptions, disruptions of adoptions, deaths, marriages and divorces of Japanese citizens to their local authority, which compiles such records encompassing all Japanese...

 unified character information page (in Japanese).

The 631 jinmeiyō kanji


丑丞乃之乎也云亘些亦 亥亨亮仔伊伍伽佃佑伶 侃侑俄俠俣俐倭俱倦倖 偲傭儲允兎兜其冴凌凜 凧凪凰凱函劉劫勁勺勿

匁匡廿卜卯卿厨厩叉叡 叢叶只吾吞吻哉哨啄哩 喬喧喰喋嘩嘉嘗噌噂圃 圭坐尭坦埴堰堺堵塙壕 壬夷奄奎套娃姪姥娩嬉

孟宏宋宕宥寅寓寵尖尤 屑峨峻崚嵯嵩嶺巌已巳 巴巷巽帖幌幡庄庇庚庵 廟廻弘弛彗彦彪彬徠忽 怜恢恰恕悌惟惚悉惇惹

惺惣慧憐戊或戟托按挺 挽掬捲捷捺捧掠揃摑摺 撒撰撞播撫擢孜敦斐斡 斧斯於旭昂昊昏昌昴晏 晃晒晋晟晦晨智暉暢曙

曝曳朋朔杏杖杜李杭杵 杷枇柑柴柘柊柏柾柚桧 栞桔桂栖桐栗梧梓梢梛 梯桶梶椛梁棲椋椀楯楚 楕椿楠楓椰楢楊榎樺榊

榛槙槍槌樫槻樟樋橘樽 橙檎檀櫂櫛櫓欣欽歎此 殆毅毘毬汀汝汐汲沌沓 沫洸洲洵洛浩浬淵淳渚 淀淋渥湘湊湛溢滉溜漱

漕漣澪濡瀕灘灸灼烏焰 焚煌煤煉熙燕燎燦燭燿 爾牒牟牡牽犀狼猪獅玖 珂珈珊珀玲琢琉瑛琥琶 琵琳瑚瑞瑶瑳瓜瓢甥甫

畠畢疋疏皐皓眸瞥矩砦 砥砧硯碓碗碩碧磐磯祇 祢祐祷禄禎禽禾秦秤稀 稔稟稜穣穹穿窄窪窺竣 竪竺竿笈笹笙笠筈筑箕

箔篇篠簞簾籾粥粟糊紘 紗紐絃紬絆絢綺綜綴緋 綾綸縞徽繫繡纂纏羚翔 翠耀而耶耽聡肇肋肴胤 胡脩腔脹膏臥舜舵芥芹

芭芙芦苑茄苔苺茅茉茸 茜莞荻莫莉菅菫菖萄菩 萌萊菱葦葵萱葺萩董葡 蓑蒔蒐蒼蒲蒙蓉蓮蔭蔣 蔦蓬蔓蕎蕨蕉蕃蕪薙蕾

蕗藁薩蘇蘭蝦蝶螺蟬蟹 蠟衿袈袴裡裟裳襖訊訣 註詢詫誼諏諄諒謂諺讃 豹貰賑赳跨蹄蹟輔輯輿 轟辰辻迂迄辿迪迦這逞

逗逢遥遁遼邑祁郁鄭酉 醇醐醍醬釉釘釧銑鋒鋸 錘錐錆錫鍬鎧閃閏閤阿 陀隈隼雀雁雛雫霞靖鞄 鞍鞘鞠鞭頁頌頗顚颯饗

馨馴馳駕駿驍魁魯鮎鯉 鯛鰯鱒鱗鳩鳶鳳鴨鴻鵜 鵬鷗鷲鷺鷹麒麟麿黎黛 鼎

Traditional variant
Kyujitai
Kyūjitai, literally "old character forms" , are the traditional forms of kanji, Chinese written characters used in Japanese. Their simplified counterparts are shinjitai, "new character forms". Some of the simplified characters arose centuries ago and were in everyday use in both China and Japan,...

s of jōyō kanji (212)

亞(亜) 惡(悪) 爲(為) 逸(逸) 榮(栄) 衞(衛) 謁(謁) 圓(円) 緣(縁) 薗(園) 應(応) 櫻(桜) 奧(奥) 橫(横) 溫(温)

價(価) 禍(禍) 悔(悔) 海(海) 壞(壊) 懷(懐) 樂(楽) 渴(渇) 卷(巻) 陷(陥) 寬(寛) 漢(漢) 氣(気) 祈(祈) 器(器)

僞(偽) 戲(戯) 虛(虚) 峽(峡) 狹(狭) 響(響) 曉(暁) 勤(勤) 謹(謹) 駈(駆) 勳(勲) 薰(薫) 惠(恵) 揭(掲) 鷄(鶏)

藝(芸) 擊(撃) 縣(県) 儉(倹) 劍(剣) 險(険) 圈(圏) 檢(検) 顯(顕) 驗(験) 嚴(厳) 廣(広) 恆(恒) 黃(黄) 國(国)

黑(黒) 穀(穀) 碎(砕) 雜(雑) 祉(祉) 視(視) 兒(児) 濕(湿) 實(実) 社(社) 者(者) 煮(煮) 壽(寿) 收(収) 臭(臭)

從(従) 澁(渋) 獸(獣) 縱(縦) 祝(祝) 暑(暑) 署(署) 緖(緒) 諸(諸) 敍(叙) 將(将) 祥(祥) 涉(渉) 燒(焼) 奬(奨)

條(条) 狀(状) 乘(乗) 淨(浄) 剩(剰) 疊(畳) 孃(嬢) 讓(譲) 釀(醸) 神(神) 眞(真) 寢(寝) 愼(慎) 盡(尽) 粹(粋)

醉(酔) 穗(穂) 瀨(瀬) 齊(斉) 靜(静) 攝(摂) 節(節) 專(専) 戰(戦) 纖(繊) 禪(禅) 祖(祖) 壯(壮) 爭(争) 莊(荘)

搜(捜) 巢(巣) 曾(曽) 裝(装) 僧(僧) 層(層) 瘦(痩) 騷(騒) 增(増) 憎(憎) 藏(蔵) 贈(贈) 臟(臓) 卽(即) 帶(帯)

滯(滞) 瀧(滝) 單(単) 嘆(嘆) 團(団) 彈(弾) 晝(昼) 鑄(鋳) 著(著) 廳(庁) 徵(徴) 聽(聴) 懲(懲) 鎭(鎮) 轉(転)

傳(伝) 都(都) 嶋(島) 燈(灯) 盜(盗) 稻(稲) 德(徳) 突(突) 難(難) 拜(拝) 盃(杯) 賣(売) 梅(梅) 髮(髪) 拔(抜)

繁(繁) 晚(晩) 卑(卑) 祕(秘) 碑(碑) 賓(賓) 敏(敏) 冨(富) 侮(侮) 福(福) 拂(払) 佛(仏) 勉(勉) 步(歩) 峯(峰)

墨(墨) 飜(翻) 每(毎) 萬(万) 默(黙) 埜(野) 彌(弥) 藥(薬) 與(与) 搖(揺) 樣(様) 謠(謡) 來(来) 賴(頼) 覽(覧)

欄(欄) 龍(竜) 虜(虜) 凉(涼) 綠(緑) 淚(涙) 壘(塁) 類(類) 禮(礼) 曆(暦) 歷(歴) 練(練) 鍊(錬) 郞(郎) 朗(朗)

廊(廊) 錄(録)

Traditional variants of jinmeiyō kanji (18)

亙(亘) 凛(凜)堯(尭)巖(巌)晄(晃)檜(桧)槇(槙)渚(渚)猪(猪)琢(琢)禰(祢)祐(祐)禱(祷)祿(禄)禎(禎) 穰(穣) 萠(萌) 遙(遥)

See also

  • Inmyongyong chuga hanjapyo


External links

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