Are you interested in learning Japanese writing? Are you little overwhelmed by kanji, as there are thousands of different characters? Not to worry, as you don't need to know every kanji character to become proficient in it. Here is the first 50 characters in my list of the 100 most frequently used kanji in Japanese newspapers. Newspapers give a great representation of the best kanji to learn. If you want to learn useful kanji, this is a good place to start as you are more likely to come across these characters in day to day use.

Beginners can also check out my kanji characters that are taught in grade 1, and grade 2 which are a collection of simple kanji.

If you are a total beginner, I recommend that you read, Japanese Writing for Beginners first. If you are an advanced learner, "Kanji Land" lessons list all 1006 "Education Kanji" that are taught in Japanese elementary schools.

When you click each character below, you will be taken to a page that shows detailed information of each kanji character. To continue to learn, please go to Most Frequently Used Kanji - Part 2.

 

1. ?	sun
2. ?	one
3. ?	big
4. ?	year
5. ?	middle
6. ?	to meet
7. ?	human being, people
8. ?	book
9. ?	moon, month
10. ?	long
11. ?	country
12. ?	to go out
13. ?	up, top
14. ?	ten
15. ?	life
16. ?	child
17. ?	minute
18. ?	east
19. ?	three
20. ?	to go
21. ?	same
22. ?	now
23. ?	high, expensive
24. ?	money, gold
25. ?	time
26. ?	hand
27. ?	to see, to look
28. ?	city
29. ?	power
30. ?	rice
31. ?	oneself
32. ?	before
33. ?	Yen (Japanese currency)
34. ?	to combine
35. ?	to stand
36. ?	inside
37. ?	two
38. ?	affair, matter
39. ?	company, society
40. ?	person
41. ?	ground, place
42. ?	capital
43. ?	interval, between
44. ?	rice field
45. ?	body
46. ?	to study
47. ?	down, under
48. ?	eye
49. ?	five
50. ?	after