The world’s toughest! A collection of insanely hard-to-read kanji
The kanji that we Japanese use as a matter of course come naturally to us not only when writing sentences but even when we’re calling something to mind.
In fact, texts written only in hiragana or katakana are very hard to read, and just thinking about that shows how convenient kanji are.
Even for us, who are so familiar with kanji in our daily lives, there are many characters that make us scratch our heads and ask, “How do you read this?”
In this article, we’ve picked out kanji that not only people overseas studying Japanese but even a large majority of Japanese people can’t read.
We include their readings as well as the origins of the words, but first, have fun seeing how many you can read—like a kanji quiz!
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The World’s Toughest! A Collection of Super Difficult Kanji (1–10)
Uma Daitō
Since the kanji for “horse” is used, you might first think of an animal, but this is actually the name of an insect.
The kanji “馬” (horse) carries the meaning of “large,” and it describes the shape as having a “horse-like large head.” If the pattern using “馬大頭” doesn’t help, seeing another pattern that uses different kanji—“鬼蜻蛉”—will likely lead you to the answer.
The correct answer is the “onikyanma,” the largest dragonfly found in Japan.
Once you hear the answer, the use of the kanji for “horse” makes sense given its size.
Entering the imperial court (especially the act of a woman entering the court as an imperial consort)
It’s a pattern where commonly seen kanji are combined to give them an unusual reading that we don’t normally use.
If you read it straightforwardly, you might think of iriuchi or nyūnai, but let’s consider the alternative readings.
The hint lies in the era when this term was used—if you picture the Heian period or Hina dolls that take it as a motif, you’ll likely arrive at the answer.
The answer is judai, a term that referred to consorts such as the Chūgū or Nyōgo entering the imperial palace (Dairi).
There are other words in which 入 is read as ju and 内 is read as dai, so knowing those is also an important clue.
pea
Many of you might already know the word “豌豆.” Some supermarkets even use this kanji on their product labels.
The answer is “endō.” If you answered “endō-mame,” that’s incorrect.
We can understand the “bean” (豆) part, but what does “豌” mean? Apparently, it’s said to come from the name of a large country called “Daiwan-koku” that once existed in what is now Uzbekistan, the supposed place of origin of peas.
Incidentally, “Daiwan” means “a very large oasis.” Everything has an origin, doesn’t it?
The World’s Hardest! A Collection of Amazing Kanji You’re Incredible If You Can Read (11–20)
wren
Those who read it as the bird “wren” (misosazai) are also correct.
Being able to read it as misosazai is impressive in itself, but this time it’s being asked as a proper noun.
Since it’s a person’s surname, it may be very difficult to read.
In fact, these characters are read “Sasaki.” It’s said there are several families with this name in Matsue City, Shimane Prefecture.
Some people originally wrote the surname Sasaki with the characters for Ōsasagi (wren), deriving it from Ōsasagi no Mikoto, an alternate name of Emperor Nintoku, but later they changed the characters to the more common 佐々木.
Those who didn’t change them kept using the characters 鷦鷯 while reading them as Sasaki… Unique, hard-to-read surnames really do have a long history, don’t they?
tokoroten (gelled noodle-like jelly made from agar)
A pattern where simple kanji are lined up but given a special reading—of course, you don’t read them as “shinta” or “kokorofuto.” However, because the pronunciation of the word has shifted to its current form, this alternate reading is an important hint to reach the answer.
If you actually pronounce it and then morph the sounds, you can get closer to the answer’s pronunciation.
The answer is “tokoroten,” a food made by chilling and solidifying the broth from boiling the seaweed tengusa into transparent noodle-like strands.
It’s said that because tengusa was once called “kokorofuto,” this name was slurred over time into the reading “torokoten,” which then became “tokoroten.”
Akebia (chocolate vine)
It’s a difficult word that uses a special reading for a simple combination of kanji you’d learn in elementary school.
The kanji don’t reflect the usual readings but are based on the shape of the object, so it’s probably hard to reach the answer from each character’s standard reading.
It’s a fruit seen in autumn and might be unfamiliar in some regions.
The answer is “akebi” (Akebia), a fruit whose ripe pod splits open vertically and gives off a sweet aroma.
The kanji 木通 are used because the vine’s core is hollow all the way through.
udon
Among the words that blend into our daily lives, many don’t really evoke an image of being written in kanji.
Here we have the name of something everyone knows, written in such an unfamiliar form.
Because it uses the character for “food” (食), you can tell it’s something to eat; the key is what the rest represents.
Rather than the meanings of the kanji, focus on the readings.
If you think of other kanji that use the same component—like 溫 or 鈍—you might get closer to how this word is read.
The answer is “udon.” You may even find it written in kanji on signs, so it could be fun to look out for it.