Japanese kanji variants and glyphs

The idea

国 and 國 are modern and older forms of the same character; 学 and 學 are another pair. Modern 国 and 学 are used in ordinary contemporary writing. A font can also change the appearance of a character without changing the character itself.

Examples

• 国くにの名前なまえを書かきます。I write the name of the country.
• 図書館としょかんで古ふるい本ほんを読よみます。I read an old book at the library.
• 新あたらしい字体じたいを使つかいます。I use the modern character form.
• 古ふるい新聞しんぶんに「國」という字じがありました。There was a character 國 in an old newspaper.
• 学校がっこうの名前なまえを確認かくにんします。I check the name of the school.
• 名前なまえの漢字かんじを正確せいかくに入力にゅうりょくしてください。Please enter the kanji in the name accurately.

Watch out

Do not automatically replace a form in a person’s name or an official record: the exact registered character may matter. A similar-looking character is not always a variant.

Try it yourself

1. Choose the modern form: 國 → ＿。（国／学）

   Show answer or example answer

   国

   国 is the modern form paired with 國.

2. Choose the older form: 学 → ＿。（學／國）

   Show answer or example answer

   學

   學 is the older form paired with 学.

3. For a name, choose what to do with the registered form: ＿。（確認する／変える）

   Show answer or example answer

   確認する

   Check the registered form: a name must be copied accurately.

Use it today

Find 国 and 学 in the examples. Compare them with 國 and 學 in the table, then check the exact form when copying a name.