Kokuji 国字

kokuji · from Japanese

What is kokuji?

Kokuji are kanji invented in Japan rather than borrowed from China, usually for native concepts.

Most kokuji are compound ideographs and have only a kun'yomi, though a few gained on'yomi. Similar locally made characters exist in Korea (gukja) and Vietnam (chữ Nôm). Some kokuji were later adopted into Chinese.

Examples

峠 tōge (mountain pass: mountain + up + down); 畑 hatake (dry field: fire + field); 働 hataraku (work: person + move); 込 komu (crowded)

Kungfucius says: Japan borrowed thousands of Chinese characters and still found a few gaps to fill.