Does anyone have a kanji that they really struggle with or just can’t seem to remember?
I’d like to practice creating detailed mnemonics and kanji breakdowns, so feel free to give me a kanji that’s giving you trouble. I’ll try to come up with a memorable story, break down the components, and explain it in a way that hopefully makes it easier to remember.
Send me your most troublesome kanji!
To come up with an example, I scrolled a bit through the Wall of Shame Fortune Telling (Aka I Think WaniKani Is Trying to Tell Me Something) thread and found maru_maru’s post about:
“I keep confusing 専 with 寺 or 時”
I thought that might be a good starting point for a first attempt.
For 寺 and 時, I chose a kind of historical fiction approach using the standard WaniKani radical combinations.
For 専, which I also struggle with a lot, I dropped the standard radical approach and made a mnemonic inspired by its original historical meaning instead.
寺 is a kanji with a fairly straightforward physical meaning, temple, usually referring to a Buddhist temple.
It has two main readings: On: ジ | Kun: てら
It is used in a plethora of jukugo, family names, and place names, as well as being a component of other kanji.
時 is one example of that. 時 also has a straightforward, but more abstract, meaning: time.
Its two main Joyo readings are: On: ジ | Kun: とき
It also has a number of 名のり（なのり）, readings used mainly in Japanese names. So, besides appearing in jukugo, family names, and place names, 時 also shows up in given names.
Structure: 寺 (temple) = 土 (land) + 寸 (measurement)
At the temple, monks measured out the land in 寸.
In ancient Japan, temples and monasteries owned extensive plots of 土 (land). To prevent disputes over who had the right to the land and its income, a clever monk invented a ruler capable of measuring land precisely down to one 寸 (sun), about 3.03 cm. From that day forward, the monks carefully measured their temple’s 土 (land) with their 寸 (measurement) rulers.
Structure: 時 (time) = 日 (sun) + 寺 (temple)
The sun is used at the temple to tell the time.
The monks kept arguing about when each work shift was supposed to begin. To settle the dispute, the chief monk decided to install a 日-dial right in front of the 寺, where everyone could see it.
専, on the other hand, is not as straightforward. Originally, it depicted a spinning apparatus being operated by hand. Its bottom part, 寸, was originally 又, which represented a hand, traditionally understood as the right hand. Which comes in handy when memorizing the phrase “on the other hand.” Anyways, the modern component breakdowns are, IMO, not especially helpful for memorizing 専. Jitenon can visually divide 専 into components such as:
一・日・丨・寸
Other resources use different divisions. Like most kanji component breakdowns, these mainly describe the modern shape, not necessarily its historical construction. They are not set in stone. They are tools used to serve the purpose of understanding and memorization. If a tool does not serve its purpose, replace it. For my mnemonic, I imagine the upper portion as something like half of a cart that got repurposed into a one-wheeled spinning machine. The stroke order reminds me of 車, which helps reinforce that image. At the bottom is 寸, which I imagine as a measuring device checking that the thread being produced has a perfectly uniform thickness.
So, once I have that mental picture to help me recall and write the kanji, I just have to follow the snail trail of linguistic abstraction. In my mind, it goes something like this:
spin together tightly → concentrate on one thing → devote yourself to one thing → specialty
That makes meanings such as specialty, specialization, exclusive use, and concentrating on one thing much easier for me to connect back to 専. The on-reading セン appears in many compounds connected with specialization or dedication to a particular field, for example 専門, 専攻, and 専用. The kun-reading もっぱら is mainly used adverbially and means things like wholly, solely, mainly, entirely, or exclusively.
Since sadly theres been no requests i choose 莫 from the same forum from a post of ShirukaCGV. Its a very visual one with a nice bit of history and some cool resources so lets get to it.
has direct Oracle Bone Script roots, first Gen so to speak. To understand it, its valuble looking at its transformatiuon moving through the different Scripts. To summarize, it used to be a sun/日 sandwiched between some grass/艸/(roots of modern grass/艹 radical)… or even nested between alot of grass/茻 hoevern you wanna see it. But over time through the different scripts it got transformed into what we today would recognice as grass/艹, sun/日, big/大. Even tough that last big/大 is just a smoshed grass/艹 at heart.
As far as meaning is concearned. It started of as Dusk, fitting for a sun sinking into greenery. But this is today purely histoycal and standartly represented by its offspring 暮. Its present meaning is akin to a jambalaya of not being there/な(い), and the classical imprative of 無し(classical dictionary form of ない), なかれ which does not exist 1 to 1 in modern Japanese grammar but is closest in meaning to sentence endings like な/ないで, so i guess similarly sounding like a Thou shalt not… or Do not…
So it paints that scenery of the dusk darkness, caused by the sun not being there, maybe because your didnt respect your deity “Thou shalt not…” command so they took it away from you.
With that picture in place we have now 3 pathway elements we can mix and match into mnemonics for the 8 Kanji that WaniKani teaches us on this radical.
| Kanji | Structure | Mnemonic image based on the theme of: dusk’s darkness / not being there / Thou shalt not |
|---|---|---|
| 模 imitation | 木 + 莫 → 模 | Imagine a wooden/木 printing mold. The ink darkens the raised surfaces it is applied to, but not the carved-out areas where it must not be applied. |
| 墓 grave | 土 + 莫 → 墓 | At dusk, you stand before a mound of 土. It marks the grave of someone who is not here anymore, and they must not be disturbed. |
| 暮 livelihood | 日 + 莫 → 暮 | The 日 sinks as the faint light of dusk spreads, prompting everyone to reflect on their 暮らし, their livelihood. |
| 幕 curtain | 巾 + 莫 → 幕 | A huge 巾 curtain veils the stage in darkness. It blocks everything the audience must not see yet. |
| 漠 desert | 氵 + 莫 → 漠 | A 漠 is a place with no 氵. So you must not forget to bring some. |
| 募 recruit | 力 + 莫 → 募 | The necessary 力 for the job is not there yet. So you need to 募る, to gather or recruit what is missing. |
| 膜 membrane | 月 + 莫 → 膜 | The organs and muscles inside your body/月 are wrapped in a thin 膜, working in the dark. You would only notice it if it were suddenly not there. |
| 慕 yearn for | 心 + 莫 → 慕 | Your 心 yearns for/慕 what lies in the dark, for the things you must not know. |
For the On reading in 莫大（ばくだい) we can also follow the idea of not being there like: “莫(There is nothing)大(bigger) then this”. Hence “Enormous”.
Thank you so much for reading!
If you enjoyed this post and want to support my ニート lifestyle (and give me a much-needed sense of accomplishment), I would love for you to drop a comment below with a kanji request for my next post!
You can specify your request however you like. To give you some inspiration, your request could be, History-oriented, Visually-oriented, Use-case-oriented, A full kanji group, Radical-based… where you tell me what certain radicals mean to you or how you interpret them (no guarantees I’ll respect your interpretation, but hey, I’ll consider it lol).
Throw a dog a bone…XOXO
here’s one i seem to be having trouble remembering: 稚
you’d think i’d maybe confuse it for 推 or 維, but nope… 継 
i can recognise 継, but when i see 稚, for whatever reason i think of the other’s mnemonic
it might even make sense to get 維 confused for it, but i seem to be doing well with that one
Most exquisite choice, Lord Caulfield. The 隹 clan can indeed be a matter of great vexation for the brave souls roaming the lands of the sinographs. You honor me by permitting me to attend to the matter.
I would first like to offer, solely for the fun of it, three generated tables, based on 漢字ペディア’s なりたち entries, grouping all the kanji that WaniKani places under its 隹 / “turkey” radical, according to whether 隹 functions as a semantic component, a phonetic component, or has no independent role at all.
| Kanji | Reading | Meaning | Role of 隹 | Fact-check and etymological note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 進 | シン | advance | Semantic + phonetic; analysis varies | Bird + foot → advance; 隹 may also be phonetic. “Bird moving forward” is supported; “cannot move backward” is interpretive. |
| 集 | シュウ | collect | Semantic | Birds gathering on a tree. Older 雧 showed multiple birds + 木; 集 is the reduced form. |
| 難 | ナン | difficult | Semantic originally | Originally a bird-name: 隹/鳥 = bird, 堇 = sound. “Difficult” is a later phonetic borrowing. |
| 雄 | ユウ | male | Semantic | Originally male/vigorous bird: 隹 = bird, 厷 = sound; later generalized to “male.” |
| 雌 | シ | female | Semantic | Originally female bird: 隹 = bird, 此 = sound; later generalized to “female.” |
| 雇 | コ | employ | Semantic originally | Originally a bird-name: 隹 = bird, 戶 = sound. “Employ” is a later borrowing. |
| 離 | リ | detach | Semantic originally | Originally a bird-word: 隹 = bird classifier; other component = sound. “Separate” is a later borrowing. |
| 奪 | ダツ | rob, seize | Semantic | Bird escaping from a hand → lose → seize/take away. Traditionally analyzed through 奞 + 寸. |
| 雅 | ガ | elegant | Semantic originally | Originally a crow-like bird: 隹 = bird, 牙 = sound; later “standard/refined/elegant.” |
| 焦 | ショウ | char, scorch | Semantic in earliest form; later analysis differs | Early form: bird + fire → scorch. Later forms/analyses changed, with 雥 treated as phonetic. |
| 奮 | フン | stir up | Semantic | Bird vigorously taking flight over a field → energetic movement / rouse oneself. |
| 隻 | セキ | one of a pair, counter | Semantic | One bird held in one hand → one of a pair. Historically contrasted with 雙 “two.” |
| 隼 | シュン | falcon | Semantic | Bird + swift/sound element 卂 → fast-flying bird, falcon. |
| Kanji | Reading | Meaning | Role of 隹 | Fact-check and etymological note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 誰 | スイ / だれ | who | Phonetic | 言 = semantic; 隹 = sound. No bird meaning involved. |
| 推 | スイ | push, infer | Phonetic | 扌 = action; 隹 = sound. “Infer” developed from “push/extend” reasoning. |
| 維 | イ | maintain | Phonetic | 糸 = cord/thread; 隹 = sound. “Connect/hold together” → maintain. |
| 椎 | ツイ | mallet, vertebra | Phonetic | 木 = wooden object; 隹 = sound. Originally a wooden striking tool. |
| 唯 | ユイ / イ | only | Phonetic | 口 + phonetic 隹; originally an affirmative response. “Only” is a later grammatical borrowing. |
| 稚 | チ | immature | Phonetic only in later form | Originally 稺: 禾 + phonetic 屖. 隹 replaced graphically similar 屖; no “small bird” meaning. |
| Kanji | Reading | Meaning | Role of 隹 | Fact-check and etymological note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 曜 | ヨウ | weekday, shine | Neither directly | 日 = semantic; 翟 = phonetic. 隹 is only inside 翟. |
| 確 | カク | certain | Neither directly | 石 = semantic; 隺 = phonetic. 隹 is only part of 隺. |
| 権 | ケン | right, authority | Neither directly | Traditional 權: 木 + phonetic 雚. 権 abbreviates 雚; 隹 has no separate role. |
| 観 | カン | view | Neither directly | Traditional 觀: 見 + phonetic 雚. 観 abbreviates 雚. |
| 護 | ゴ | defend | Neither directly | 言 = semantic; 蒦 = phonetic. 隹 is nested inside 蒦. |
| 準 | ジュン | standard | Neither directly | 水 = semantic; 隼 = phonetic. 隹 is only inside 隼. |
| 勧 | カン | recommend | Neither directly | Traditional 勸: 力 + phonetic 雚. 勧 abbreviates 雚. |
| 催 | サイ | urge, hold an event | Neither directly | 亻 = semantic; 崔 = phonetic. 隹 is part of 崔, not independently phonetic. |
| 雑 | ザツ | mixed | Neither directly | Originally 衣 + phonetic 集. The phonetic unit is 集, not 隹; modern form is further simplified. |
| 歓 | カン | delight | Neither directly | Traditional 歡: 欠 + phonetic 雚. 歓 abbreviates 雚. |
| 躍 | ヤク | leap | Neither directly | 足 = semantic; 翟 = phonetic. 隹 is only inside 翟. |
| 携 | ケイ | carry, portable | Neither directly | Traditional 手 + phonetic 雟. Modern 携 is abbreviated; isolating 隹 is historically misleading. |
| 獲 | カク | capture | Neither directly | 犬 = semantic; 蒦 = phonetic. 隹 inside 蒦 has no independent role. |
| 穫 | カク | harvest | Neither directly | 禾 = semantic; 蒦 = phonetic. 隹 is nested inside 蒦. |
| 鶴 | カク / つる | crane | Neither directly | 鳥 = bird semantic; 隺 = crane/sound element. 隹 inside 隺 is not a separate second “bird.” |
| 准 | ジュン | quasi, semi | Neither historically | Originally a variant of 準. Not independently created as 冫 + 隹. |
| 濯 | タク | wash | Neither directly | 水 = semantic; 翟 = phonetic. 隹 is only inside 翟. |
| 擁 | ヨウ | embrace | Neither directly | 手 + 雝/雍 as the larger component. 隹 does not independently explain 擁. |
| 羅 | ラ | net, spread out | Neither directly | 网 + 維. 隹 is only the phonetic part inside 維; “net + bird” is not the historical structure. |
| 礁 | ショウ | reef | Neither directly | 石 = semantic; 焦 = phonetic. 隹 inside 焦 is one structural level too deep. |
So, honing in on the issue at hand, let’s look at 漢字ペディア’s なりたち for 稚.
出典『角川新字源 改訂新版』（ＫＡＤＯＫＡＷＡ）
形声。禾と、音符屖(セイ)→(チ)（または隹(スイ)→(チ)）とから成る。まだ大きくならないいね、ひいて「おさない」意を表す。
Source: Kadokawa Shinjigen, Revised Edition (KADOKAWA)
Phono-semantic compound. Formed from 禾 and the phonetic component 屖 (セイ) → (チ) (or 隹 (スイ) → (チ)). It represents a rice plant that has not yet grown large, and by extension, the meaning “young” or “immature.”
So I would say that WK’s formula of 禾/Grain + 隹/Turkey = 稚/Immature, although the 隹 is phonetic, nonetheless provides a great basis for a mnemonic.
Like most birds, young turkeys initially eat mainly insects, then gradually shift toward a more plant-based diet that includes tender greens. So one ornithologically sound mnemonic could be a rural farmer looking out over his paddy as he spots the culprit and grunts…
禾(Grain) + 隹(Turkey) = 稚(immature, young)
For f*ck’s sake, this immature Turkey is after my young Grain stalks again.
Let’s start the research for 継 by looking at 漢字ペディア’s なりたち for it.
なりたち出典『角川新字源 改訂新版』（ＫＡＤＯＫＡＷＡ）
本字は、象形。切れたより糸を二つ合わせてつないでよる、ひいて「つぐ」意を表す。旧字は、会意形声で、(ケイ)に糸が加わったもの。常用漢字は省略形の俗字による。
Etymology source: Kadokawa Shin Jigen, Revised Edition (KADOKAWA)
This character is pictographic. It depicts joining two broken strands of twisted thread and twisting them together; by extension, it expresses the meaning “to join/continue.” The old form is a semantic-phonetic compound, formed by adding 糸 “thread” to (ケイ). The Jōyō Kanji form is based on an abbreviated popular form.
So in this case, I would strongly advise against using the WK formula, 糸/Thread + L/Lion + 米/Rice = 継/Inherit. Mainly because… what in the Freaky Friday is that Latin L doing there?!
That feels like an inattentive quick fix. I would recommend not associating 県 and 以, or 似 and 断, or 継, through mnemonics in any shape or form.
Instead, let’s take the only other instance where we have a reasonably similar shape, 断. Even though the historical origins differ, for mnemonic purposes the resemblance works really well.
I would propose associating the right side of 継 and the left side of 断 with a rice straw rope-making machine. 米 stands for the dried rice stalks, while the L-shaped part becomes the crank or lever connecting the foot pedal that powers the machine.
That already gives us a nice Meiji-era farming drama esque as a historical-fiction backdrop for building our mnemonics.
糸 “thread” + L米 “Straw Rope Maker” = 継 “inherit, succeed, continue”
The farmer’s son inherits his place at the Straw Rope Maker, succeeding his father and continuing to spin the same thread that he did.
And:
L米 “Straw Rope Maker” + 斤 “axe” = 断 “severance, refuse, cut off”
The farmer’s son refuses his inheritance, declining the offer to take his place at the Straw Rope Maker. He severs the thread with his axe and takes it with him to seek his fortune somewhere else.
Hopefully these background infos and mnemonic examples help you refine your own personal ones and get rid of the confusion between 稚 and 継. As you might have noticed, my style is initially to overload on information and nitpick whatever feels useful. I hope you can see the benefit of this and use it for yourself. If there are any confusions, questions about this answer, or you’re interested in other kanji mnemonics, feel free to send them my way.
thanks, i’ll see if that helps~ :3
Maybe it’s because I’m really sick and it’s late at night, but this post felt like sometime I’d read in a Pokémon game from an npc and I’m here for it (but also can’t think of any at the moment)
Wow! You’re SICK and it’s already LATE… Better restore your HP and get some sleep! When a useful KANJI pops into your head, come see me—I hear a good MNEMONIC can make even a stubborn KANJI easier to catch!
Hi! Thanks a lot for doing this! I’ve been struggling for some reason with 緑 (green)、線 (line)、縁 (brink, verge)
For some reason? I can think of a multitude of reasons to struggle with those pesky rascals.
Actually, I would assume each of the ones you’re struggling with has its very own. Hi Nate, thanks for asking, I’ll give it a shot.
First off, 線 (line, track) is probably due to the fact that you didn’t learn 泉 (spring, fountain) yet. WK teaches it at Lvl 12.
So if we associate 白 with pure/clear (as in Christian symbolism), you get clear 水 springing up from below, hence a 泉 (spring, fountain).
So if you have a 泉 (spring, fountain) that spurts out a 糸 (thread), that gives you, assuming it’s not infinite, a 線 (line, or more precisely, a line segment).
白 (white/pure) + 水 (water) = 泉 (spring, fountain)
A spring where pure white aerated water bubbles up.糸 (thread) + 泉 (spring, fountain) = 線 (line, track)
A thread springing up from a starting point, inevitably halting at an ending point, gives you a line/track between two points.
As for 緑 (green) and 縁 (brink, verge), they’re kinda high in stroke order, their semantic part 糸 isn’t that clearly associated with either, and their phonetic parts are pretty rare and extremely similar.
So let’s take it from the top and start with the semantic part:
緑 (green): As you probably know, China and Korea had 5 and Japan historically only 4 colours. What we today reference as green-blue-purple wasn’t differentiated in any language, meaning there wasn’t any kanji for green in general language. But in textile making there was, so it just got generalized over time from originally meaning green thread to just green. (A phenomenon you will revisit with other colour kanji like 紫 (purple), 紅 (crimson), 紺 (navy), which all underwent the same generalization.)
縁 (brink, verge): Likewise, it has its original meaning related to the textile industry. Originally referencing the edge/border of woven cloth. Before it generalized into meaning any kind of abstract edge, to now where it’s also associated with connection to a person and relationship, as well as fortune, fate and chance.
Now to the real nutcracker, the phonetic right part. WK takes, understandably, the easy way out on this one, making up a radical with katakana yo “wolverine”. Let’s try and paint a clearer picture.
緑 (green): So the unabbreviated phonetic part is written as 彔 (the only difference is that the second stroke used to be the first stroke and L-shaped). As a useful mnemonic identity, I recommend the meaning of a REEL that pulls something.
So the top wolverine part is like the reel, more clear in the unabbreviated version, and the bottom is some sort of depression filled with water where you can reel something out of.
So for example:
糸 (thread) + 彔 (reel that pulls) = 緑 (green)
A batch of now dripping green thread being reeled out of a coloring basin.
Or like in these next most popular use cases:
金 (metal) + 彔 (reel that pulls) = 録 (record, transcript)
A metal recording reel spins and captures sound or images, reeling them out of thin air to become recorded and transcribed.彔 (reel that pulls) + 刂 (knife) = 剥 (peel)
A reel pulls a layer away while the knife cuts it free, so the outer layer gets peeled off.
縁 (brink, verge): For this phonetic part there is good and bad news. Bad news first, it’s the only Jōyō kanji using it (there is one other Jinmeiyō kanji and several other Hyōgaiji).
And now the good news… it underwent the exact same simplification as 彔 (reel that pulls) before (the second stroke was the first stroke and originally L-shaped instead of -), making it look like this: 彖. So let’s stay consistent with the top part and imagine it as a reel, and the bottom part is of course a pig. As for meaning, I found two associations, one of them being a running pig/boar, which is a perfect combo. So now you can imagine the fastest pig alive reeling its legs like in a cartoon before it dashes into the distance like lightning, only to be stopped by its pen wall, forcing it to run around the edge of it to tire out its zoomies.
糸 (thread) + 彖 (running along the edge) = 縁 (brink, verge)
A thread that runs around the perimeter of a piece of cloth is forming its edge, border, hem.
That concludes my earnest attempt. Please feel welcome to alter and modify this info in a way that suits your use. As you can see, the only free cheese is in the mousetrap. Following the seductive path of enlightenment comes with doing more and more work for diminishing returns. So choose your goalpost and make sure it’s not moving too fast. 
