are a set of 863

Chinese character Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanji' ...

s known as "name kanji" in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

. They are a supplementary list of characters that can legally be used in registered personal names in Japan, despite not being in the official list of "commonly used characters" (

jōyō kanji The is the guide to kanji characters and their readings, announced officially by the Japanese Ministry of Education. Current ''jōyō kanji'' are those on a list of 2,136 characters issued in 2010. It is a slightly modified version of the '' t ...

). "Jinmeiyō kanji" is sometimes used to refer to the characters in both the jinmeiyō and jōyō lists. A

ministerial decree A ministerial decree or ministerial order is a decree by a ministry. With a ministerial decree the administrative department is delegated the task to impose a formal judgement or mandate. Ministerial decrees are usually imposed under the authorit ...

of 1946 limited the number of officially sanctioned

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequ ...

for public use to the 1,850 tōyō kanji. 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 129 jinmeiyō characters were transferred to the jōyō kanji list, and 5 characters were transferred from the jōyō kanji list to jinmeiyō characters. In 2015 and 2017, 2 kanji in total were added to the jinmeiyō list, making the total number 863. In

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

, name kanji are taught at the junior-high level.

History

Below is a list of changes made to the jinmeiyō kanji list since its creation in 1951.

May 25, 1951

The first 92 characters of jinmeiyō kanji were published: :丑　丞　乃　之　也　亘　亥　亦　亨　亮　伊　匡　卯　只　吾　呂　哉　嘉　圭　奈　宏　寅　巌　巳　庄　弘　弥　彦　悌　敦　昌　晃　晋　智　暢　朋　桂　桐　楠　橘　欣　欽　毅　浩　淳　熊　爾　猪　玲　琢　瑞　睦　磯　祐　禄　禎　稔　穣　綾　惣　聡　肇　胤　艶　蔦　藤　蘭　虎　蝶　輔　辰　郁　酉　錦　鎌　靖　須　馨　駒　鯉　鯛　鶴　鹿　麿　亀 Seven of them were later transferred to the

: :仙　尚　杉　甚　磨　斉　龍 With the last one also being simplified to (dragon).

July 30, 1976

were added, for a total of 120 characters. :佑　允　冴　喬　怜　旭　杏　梓　梢　梨　沙　渚　瑠　瞳　紗　紘　絢　翠　耶　芙　茜　藍　那　阿　隼　鮎　葵 One was later transferred to the jōyō kanji: .

October 1, 1981

Introduction of the jōyō kanji list, which includes the 8 characters mentioned above; those 8 are thus removed from the jinmeiyō kanji list. 54 other characters are added for a total of 166 name characters. :伍　伶　侑　尭　孟　峻　嵩　嶺　巴　彬　惇　惟　慧　斐　旦　昂　李　栗　楓　槙　汐　洵　洸　渥　瑛　瑶　璃　甫　皓　眸　矩　碧　笹　緋　翔　脩　苑　茉　莉　萌　萩　蓉　蕗　虹　諒　赳　迪　遥　遼　霞　頌　駿　鳩　鷹

March 1, 1990

118 kanji were added for a total of 284 characters. :伎　伽　侃　倖　倭　偲　冶　凌　凜　凪　捺　於　旺　昴　晏　晟　晨　暉　曙　朔　凱　勁　叡　叶　唄　啄　奎　媛　嬉　宥　崚　嵐　嵯　巽　彗　彪　恕　憧　拳　捷　杜　柊　柚　柾　栞　梧　椋　椎　椰　椿　楊　榛　槻　樺　檀　毬　汀　汰　洲　湧　滉　漱　澪　熙　燎　燦　燿　爽　玖　琳　瑚　瑳　皐　眉　瞭　碩　秦　稀　稜　竣　笙　紬　絃　綜　綸　綺　耀　胡　舜　芹　茄　茅　莞　菖　菫　蒔　蒼　蓮　蕉　衿　袈　裟　詢　誼　諄　邑　醇　采　雛　鞠　颯　魁　鳳　鴻　鵬　麟　黎　黛

December 3, 1997

1 kanji was added, for a total of 285 characters. :琉

February 23, 2004

1 kanji was added, for a total of 286 characters. :曽

June 7, 2004

1 kanji was added, for a total of 287 characters. :獅

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) * (''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 being 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 12, 2004

3 kanji were added, for a total of 290 characters. :毘　瀧　駕

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: * (''kuso'', "excrement") * (''noroi'', "curse") * (''shikabane'', "corpse") * (''gan'', "cancer") * (''kan'', "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 were added, bringing the total number of the jinmeiyō kanji to 983.

April 30, 2009

2 more characters were added for a total number of 985 characters. :祷　穹

November 30, 2010

In late 2010, the Japanese government added 196 characters to the jōyō kanji list. The list now includes 129 characters previously classified as jinmeiyō kanji, 11 of which are currently used in Japanese prefectures or nearby countries:Akihiko Shiraishi, ("New draft table adds 196 everyday-use kanji") in ''Asahi Shimbun'', 23 October 2009, retrieved 25 October 2009. (Dead link as of 3 April 2016).Japan Times
Get set for next year's overhaul of official kanji
21 October 2009, retrieved 27 February 2010. * (''ibara'' in ,

Ibaraki Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Ibaraki Prefecture has a population of 2,871,199 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Ibaraki Prefecture borders Fukushima Prefecture to the north, Tochigi Prefecture ...

) * (''hime'' in ,

Ehime Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Ehime Prefecture has a population of 1,342,011 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 5,676 km2 (2,191 sq mi). Ehime Prefecture borders Kagawa Prefecture to the northeast, T ...

) * (''oka'' in ,

Shizuoka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,637,998 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Prefecture to the northea ...

) * (''kan'' in ,

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

) * (''kuma'' in ,

Kumamoto Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 () and has a geographic area of . Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture to the northeast, M ...

) * (''sai'' in ,

Saitama Prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Saitama Prefecture has a population of 7,338,536 (1 January 2020) and has a geographic area of 3,797 km2 (1,466 sq mi). Saitama Prefecture borders Tochigi Prefecture ...

) * (''tochi'' in ,

Tochigi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Tochigi Prefecture has a population of 1,943,886 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,408 km2 (2,474 sq mi). Tochigi Prefecture borders Fukushima Prefecture to th ...

) * (''na'' in ,

Nara Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Nara Prefecture has a population of 1,321,805 and has a geographic area of . Nara Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Osaka Prefecture to the northwest, Wakaya ...

) * (''nashi'' in ,

Yamanashi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Yamanashi Prefecture has a population of 817,192 (1 January 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,465 km2 (1,724 sq mi). Yamanashi Prefecture borders Saitama Prefecture to the ...

) * (''saka'' in ,

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

) * (''fu'' in ,

Gifu Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Gifu Prefecture has a population of 1,991,390 () and has a geographic area of . Gifu Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to the north; Ishikawa Prefecture to the northwest, ...

) At the same time, 5 characters deleted from the jōyō kanji list were added to the jinmeiyō kanji list, making the total number of jinmeiyō kanji 861: * (''shaku'', an old unit of measure approx. 18ml in volume, or 0.033m² in area) * (''sui'' or ''tsumu'', a spindle or weight) * (''sen'',

pig iron Pig iron, also known as crude iron, is an intermediate product of the iron industry in the production of steel which is obtained by smelting iron ore in a blast furnace. Pig iron has a high carbon content, typically 3.8–4.7%, along with ...

) * (''chō'' or ''fuku eru', to swell or bulge; mostly used in the compound , normally rewritten with instead) * (''momme'', a unit of weight approx 3.75g)

January 7, 2015

1 kanji was added, for a total of 862 characters. :巫

September 25, 2017

1 kanji was added, for a total of 863 characters. :渾

List of jinmeiyō kanji

The list is split into two parts: * 633 characters which do not appear in the list of

(regular-use kanji). 18 of these have a variant, bringing the number of character forms to 651. * 212 characters which are traditional forms (''

kyūjitai ''Kyūjitai'' ( ja, 舊字體 / 旧字体, lit=old character forms) are the traditional forms of kanji, Chinese written characters used in Japanese. Their simplified counterparts are ''shinjitai'' ( ja, 新字体, lit=new character forms, la ...

'') of characters present in the list of

Jinmeiyō kanji not part of the jōyō kanji

Variants are given in parentheses. :丑　丞　乃　之　乎　也　云　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　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　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　巫　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　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　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　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　淀　淋　渥　渾　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　獅　玖　珂　珈　珊　珀　玲　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　禽　禾　秦　秤　稀　稔　稟　稜　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　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　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 Below are the 18 characters that are variant forms of characters in the list above. For each variant form, the corresponding standard form ("non-variant" form) is in parentheses. :

Traditional variants of jōyō kanji

The modern form (''

shinjitai are the simplified forms of kanji used in Japan since the promulgation of the Tōyō Kanji List in 1946. Some of the new forms found in ''shinjitai'' are also found in Simplified Chinese characters, but ''shinjitai'' is generally not as extensi ...

''), which appears in the Jōyō Kanji List, is given in brackets. : Note that is merely the closest Wikipedia can come to the form on the official list, where the first (top left) stroke is horizontal rather than vertical.https://dictionary.sanseido-publ.co.jp/column/第2回「竜」と「龍」

Actual usage in names

Usage of the Jinmeiyō Kanji in Japanese names varies widely. For example, 之, is used in over 6000 names, and the 53 kanji used most commonly in names are all in over 500 names each.Kanshudo
The Jinmeiyō Kanji (人名用漢字)
/ref>

External links

List of Jōyō Kanji (Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs)

List of Jinmeiyō Kanji (Japanese Ministry of Justice)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jinmeiyo kanji Kanji Japanese writing system *