Japanese language consists of “hiragana”, “katakana”, and “kanji”. In this page, we introduce some kanjis which are often used in public places and news. Try to find some kanjis which are necessary and frequently used in the age of COVID-19.
1. Names of Big Cities
We introduce “the ordinance-designated cities” (政令指定都市/Seirei-shitei-toshi) in Japan.
| Sapporo | 札幌 |
| Sendai | 仙台 |
| Saitama | さいたま(埼玉) |
| Chiba | 千葉 |
| Yokohama | 横浜 |
| Niigata | 新潟 |
| Tokyo | 東京 |
| Shizuoka | 静岡 |
| Nagoya | 名古屋 |
| Kyoto | 京都 |
| Osaka | 大阪 |
| Kobe | 神戸 |
| Okayama | 岡山 |
| Hiroshima | 広島 |
| Kitakyusyu | 北九州 |
| Kumamoto | 熊本 |
| Kawasaki | 川崎 |
| Sagamihara | 相模原 |
| Hamamatsu | 浜松 |
| Sakai | 堺 |
| Fukuoka | 福岡 |
2. Public places
| English | Kanji | How to pronounce |
| Park | 公園 | Kou-en |
| City office | 区役所・市役所 | Kuyaku-syo / shiyaku-syo |
| Hospital | 病院 | Byo-in |
| Library | 図書館 | Tosyo-kan |
| Civic hall | 市民会館 | Shimin-kaikan |
| Kindergarten | 幼稚園 | Youchi-en |
| Elementary school | 小学校 | Sho-gakko |
| Junior high school | 中学校 | Chu-gakko |
| High school | 高等学校 (高校） | Koutou-gakko / Koukou |
3. Terms in News
| English | Kanji | How to pronounce |
| Weather forecast | 天気予報 | Tenki-yohou |
| Breaking News | 速報 | Soku-hou |
| Earthquake | 地震 | Jishinn |
| Heavy rain | 大雨 | Oo-ame |
| declaration of a state of emergency | 緊急事態宣言 | Kinkyu-jitai-sengen |
| Refraining | 自粛 | Ji-syuku |
| People infected (with~) | 感染者 | Kansen-sha |
4. Useful websites and apps for Kanji
Jisho
Jisho is a powerful English-Japanese dictionary. It lets you find kanjis and example sentences.
Click here to visit Jisho.
Tangorin
Tongorin is a useful English-Japanese dictionary with words including kanjis and example sentences.
You can also creat your vocabulary lists on Tangorin which help you study Japanese a lot.
Click here to visit Tangorin
漢字検索(kanji-kensaku)
This is an application where you can search kanjis.
When you need to search kanji which you don’t know how to read, this app will be very helpful.