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List of the 500 most used Kanji

Today I present to you a list of the 500 most commonly used Kanji by the Japanese. It is very helpful if you are unsure which kanji to learn first.

  1. day
  2. one
  3. country
  4. meeting
  5. person
  6. year
  7. big
  8. ten
  9. two
  10. Book
  11. Middle
  12. long
  13. out
  14. three
  15. same
  16. Time
  17. thing
  18. self
  19. Going
  20. company
  21. see
  22. Moon
  23. part
  24. discussion
  25. after
  26. Before
  27. people
  28. Life
  29. connect
  30. Five
  31. Departure
  32. space
  33. versus
  34. up
  35. section
  36. East
  37. person
  38. party
  39. Earth
  40. Combine
  41. city
  42. Business
  43. inside
  44. mutual
  45. Direction
  46. four
  47. fixed
  48. Now
  49. Return
  50. New
  51. place
  52. Gold
  53. Member
  54. Nine
  55. Enter
  56. stand
  57. open
  58. hand
  59. rice
  60. power
  61. study
  62. Question
  63. High
  64. generation
  65. bright
  66. Actually
  67. Yen
  68. child
  69. motion
  70. All
  71. eye
  72. Table
  73. Battle
  74. Traffic
  75. Outside
  76. word
  77. surname
  78. current
  79. 調
  80. body
  81. Transformation
  82. field
  83. when
  84. eight
  85. six
  86. about
  87. Master
  88. Title
  89. down
  90. neck
  91. Law
  92. No
  93. Come
  94. Work
  95. sex
  96. of
  97. used
  98. Control
  99. degree
  100. strong
  101. Feeling
  102. small
  103. seven
  104. Become
  105. term
  106. public
  107. Field
  108. Capital city
  109. and
  110. Machine
  111. total
  112. Add
  113. Mountain
  114. Thought
  115. house
  116. talk/story
  117. world
  118. Acceptance
  119. District
  120. Many
  121. Correct
  122. Peaceful
  123. Change
  124. Number
  125. Record
  126. Institute
  127. woman
  128. First
  129. North
  130. finger
  131. Authority
  132. Heart
  133. The
  134. birth
  135. one hundred
  136. faction
  137. dot
  138. Prefecture
  139. alive
  140. Source
  141. Next
  142. together
  143. Got it
  144. Name
  145. You
  146. river
  147. toward
  148. Occasion
  149. win
  150. face
  151. Committee
  152. military
  153. Text
  154. anti
  155. Yen
  156. heavy
  157. one thousand
  158. Judgment
  159. drawing
  160. sea
  161. Sell
  162. group
  163. Proposal
  164. Path
  165. Plan
  166. collection
  167. item
  168. group
  169. Separate
  170. things
  171. side
  172. Pull
  173. 使
  174. place
  175. next
  176. Water
  177. half
  178. Item
  179. last
  180. Discussion
  181. death
  182. Feeling
  183. Emotion
  184. show
  185. strange
  186. strike
  187. Man
  188. Base
  189. I
  190. each
  191. island
  192. Straight
  193. Morning
  194. Leather
  195. Style
  196. Sure
  197. village
  198. Luck
  199. West
  200. force
  201. decrease
  202. Table
  203. Must
  204. Response
  205. years old
  206. live
  207. Conflict
  208. can
  209. nothing
  210. again
  211. Position
  212. Place
  213. Flow
  214. Status
  215. Have
  216. Mouth
  217. Past
  218. Bureau
  219. small
  220. town
  221. school
  222. Material
  223. State
  224. Craft
  225. word
  226. ball
  227. Sky
  228. Occupation
  229. Proof
  230. Soil
  231. and
  232. stop
  233. offer
  234. OK
  235. role
  236. tree
  237. Divide
  238. body
  239. expense
  240. 付 - attached (it's a term often used in Japanese to indicate the attachment of something)
  241. cut
  242. Statement
  243. turn
  244. Food
  245. Difficult
  246. car
  247. Superior
  248. Husband
  249. What
  250. South
  251. stone
  252. foot
  253. wrong
  254. Remove
  255. boundary
  256. God
  257. number
  258. Fresh
  259. home
  260. Harm
  261. vice
  262. Count
  263. trunk
  264. Nurturing
  265. seat
  266. Fun
  267. ten thousand
  268. wear
  269. store
  270. Think
  271. line
  272. rate
  273. illness
  274. state
  275. Voice
  276. Quality
  277. Nian
  278. elephant
  279. silver
  280. Help
  281. Example
  282. Then
  283. Movie
  284. Parent
  285. forehead
  286. Commerce
  287. leaf
  288. righteousness
  289. Work
  290. Form
  291. Resignation
  292. Award
  293. to sue
  294. Side
  295. stock
  296. Head
  297. Skill
  298. Every
  299. Medicine
  300. figure
  301. Taste
  302. Move
  303. difference
  304. people
  305. individual
  306. Gate
  307. write
  308. class
  309. end
  310. brain
  311. extreme
  312. seed
  313. beauty
  314. shadow
  315. Life
  316. included
  317. Fortune
  318. storehouse
  319. Quantity
  320. Pine
  321. Non
  322. Sa
  323. nucleus
  324. View
  325. 段 (section)
  326. horizontal
  327. Type
  328. white
  329. Character
  330. Night
  331. Made
  332. Ticket
  333. Sound
  334. Mr./Ms./Mrs.
  335. wealth
  336. Port
  337. Recognition
  338. Note