Grade 2 Jōyō Kanji (小2): All 160 Second-Grade Kanji with Readings, Stroke Counts, and JLPT Mapping
The grade 2 jōyō kanji are the 160 characters that MEXT assigns to the second year of Japanese elementary school in the 学年別漢字配当表 (gakunenbetsu kanji haitōhyō, "grade-by-grade kanji distribution table").1 This set exactly doubles the grade-1 count. It also forms the second contiguous block of the 1,026-character kyōiku kanji inside the broader 2,136-character jōyō list.23
Overview
The grade-2 allocation has stayed at 160 characters across the 1989, 1992, 2008, and 2017 revisions of the 学習指導要領 (course of study). The 2017 revision's 20-character expansion was absorbed entirely by grade 4 (prefecture-name kanji), not by grade 2.43 The current distribution table dates to the 2017 告示 (official notice) and was fully implemented on 1 April 2020.14
Grade 1 introduced kanji as standalone pictographs. Grade 2 is the first year a learner reads kanji as components of two- and three-character compounds (熟語, jukugo) like 時間, 教室, 自分, 国語, and 算数.56 This shift from recognizing single characters to decoding compounds is the real change behind the numerical doubling from 80 to 160.
From 80 to 160: what doubles between grade 1 and grade 2
The 学年別漢字配当表 allocates 160 characters to grade 2, exactly double the grade-1 count of 80.13 Together, "Grade 1 Jōyō Kanji (小1): All 80 First-Grade Kanji…" and this article cover the first 240 characters of the elementary kanji curriculum. "The Jōyō Kanji List (常用漢字): The 2,136-Character Set Explained" places those 240 characters inside the full 2,136-character target.
The 常用漢字表 governs the character form (字体) and the on/kun reading set (音訓) for each grade-2 character. The distribution table itself only specifies the grade.12
Stroke counts rise, but the most common range shifts only slightly. Grade 1's modal count was 4–5 strokes. Grade 2's modal count is 6–9 strokes, and the highest grade-2 characters (顔 and 曜, both 18 strokes) exceed any grade-1 character (森 at 12 strokes was the grade-1 ceiling).78
What gets learned in year 2 (time, family, school subjects, larger numbers, weather, basic verbs of motion and cognition)
The 160 grade-2 characters fall into roughly six thematic clusters. These mirror a 7-year-old's expanding vocabulary in school, family, and the wider world: time and calendar (時, 分, 半, 間, 週, 曜, 朝, 昼, 夜, 春, 夏, 秋, 冬, 今, 古, 元, 万); family, people, and body (父, 母, 兄, 姉, 弟, 妹, 親, 友, 自, 体, 顔, 心, 何, 毎); school, society, work, and language (教, 室, 算, 数, 読, 書, 話, 言, 聞, 答, 思, 知, and more); nature, weather, place, and animals (海, 谷, 池, 岩, 風, 雪, 雲, 晴, 馬, 鳥, 魚, and more); direction, position, motion, and basic adjective stems (前, 後, 北, 南, 東, 西, 行, 来, 帰, 多, 少, 高, 広, and more); and everyday objects, counters, and residuals (戸, 門, 弓, 刀, 船, 計, 才, 台, 食, 電, and more).79
Cluster boundaries are pedagogical, not official: no MEXT-issued grouping exists, and the clustering above follows the dominant English-language and Japanese-textbook reference tables.9 The 160-character total is fixed by MEXT.1
The 160 grade 2 kanji
How to read the table
Each character row has seven fields. Kanji shows the character in its standard 常用漢字表 form.2 Meaning gives only the main English gloss. On'yomi is shown in katakana. Kun'yomi is shown in hiragana, with okurigana hyphenated where applicable. The pairing convention follows J-Compass's "On'yomi vs. Kun'yomi: The Two-Reading System Behind Every Kanji" article.
Strokes (画数) are from KANJIDIC2 and match the MEXT-endorsed tally. The eight basic strokes that make up these counts are covered in "How to Count Kanji Strokes (画数): The Eight Basic Strokes…".81 Top-2 vocabulary lists two high-frequency words a beginner meets early, compiled from JMdict frequency-tagged headwords and standard dictionary attestation.1056 At grade 2, the vocabulary column includes multi-kanji compounds because that is where these characters actually appear.
JLPT is the level at which Wikibooks' community reconstruction first introduces the character.1112
The JLPT has not published an official kanji list since the 2010 revision.13 Every online "N5 kanji list" or "N4 kanji list" is an unofficial reconstruction maintained by a third party. These reconstructions disagree on a handful of grade-2 characters. This table follows the Wikibooks reconstruction1112 because it gives the most internally consistent N5/N4/N3 split and matches the grade-1 article. The Tanos14 and JLPTsensei1516 reconstructions place 会 outside N5 and disagree on a few other characters at the N4/N3 boundary. Read the column as "the level Wikibooks places this character at", not as an authoritative JLPT assignment.
For a fuller account of how many kanji a learner needs at each milestone, see "How Many Kanji Do You Need? A Realistic Count".
Master table: all 160 second-grade kanji
The table is sorted into six pedagogical clusters that mirror the most common Japanese elementary-textbook grouping.9 On'yomi appear in katakana, and kun'yomi appear in hiragana. Okurigana are hyphenated where applicable.
Time, calendar, and counting (17)
| Kanji | Meaning | On'yomi | Kun'yomi | Strokes | Top-2 vocabulary | JLPT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 時 | time, hour | ジ | とき | 10 | 時間 (じかん) "time"; 時計 (とけい) "clock" | N5 |
| 分 | minute, part, divide | ブン、フン、ブ | わ-ける、わ-かる、わ-かれる | 4 | 分 (ふん) "minute"; 自分 (じぶん) "oneself" | N5 |
| 半 | half | ハン | なか-ば | 5 | 半 (はん) "half"; 半分 (はんぶん) "half" | N5 |
| 週 | week | シュウ | (none) | 11 | 週 (しゅう) "week"; 今週 (こんしゅう) "this week" | N3+ |
| 曜 | weekday | ヨウ | (none) | 18 | 曜日 (ようび) "day of the week"; 月曜日 (げつようび) "Monday" | N4 |
| 朝 | morning | チョウ | あさ | 12 | 朝 (あさ) "morning"; 朝食 (ちょうしょく) "breakfast" | N4 |
| 昼 | noon, daytime | チュウ | ひる | 9 | 昼 (ひる) "noon, daytime"; 昼食 (ちゅうしょく) "lunch" | N4 |
| 夜 | night | ヤ | よ、よる | 8 | 夜 (よる) "night"; 今夜 (こんや) "tonight" | N4 |
| 今 | now | コン、キン | いま | 4 | 今 (いま) "now"; 今日 (きょう) "today" | N5 |
| 古 | old | コ | ふる-い、ふる-す | 5 | 古い (ふるい) "old"; 中古 (ちゅうこ) "used, second-hand" | N3+ |
| 春 | spring | シュン | はる | 9 | 春 (はる) "spring"; 春休み (はるやすみ) "spring vacation" | N4 |
| 夏 | summer | カ、ゲ | なつ | 10 | 夏 (なつ) "summer"; 夏休み (なつやすみ) "summer vacation" | N4 |
| 秋 | autumn | シュウ | あき | 9 | 秋 (あき) "autumn"; 秋分 (しゅうぶん) "autumnal equinox" | N4 |
| 冬 | winter | トウ | ふゆ | 5 | 冬 (ふゆ) "winter"; 冬休み (ふゆやすみ) "winter vacation" | N4 |
| 元 | origin, foundation | ゲン、ガン | もと | 4 | 元 (もと) "origin"; 元気 (げんき) "well, healthy" | N4 |
| 万 | ten thousand | マン、バン | (none) | 3 | 万 (まん) "ten thousand"; 一万 (いちまん) "10,000" | N5 |
| 間 | interval, between | カン、ケン | あいだ、ま | 12 | 時間 (じかん) "time"; 間 (あいだ) "interval, between" | N5 |
Family, people, body parts (14)
| Kanji | Meaning | On'yomi | Kun'yomi | Strokes | Top-2 vocabulary | JLPT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 父 | father | フ | ちち | 4 | 父 (ちち) "(my) father"; お父さん (おとうさん) "father" | N5 |
| 母 | mother | ボ | はは | 5 | 母 (はは) "(my) mother"; お母さん (おかあさん) "mother" | N5 |
| 兄 | older brother | ケイ、キョウ | あに | 5 | 兄 (あに) "(my) older brother"; お兄さん (おにいさん) "older brother" | N4 |
| 姉 | older sister | シ | あね | 8 | 姉 (あね) "(my) older sister"; お姉さん (おねえさん) "older sister" | N4 |
| 弟 | younger brother | テイ、ダイ、デ | おとうと | 7 | 弟 (おとうと) "younger brother"; 兄弟 (きょうだい) "siblings" | N4 |
| 妹 | younger sister | マイ | いもうと | 8 | 妹 (いもうと) "younger sister"; 姉妹 (しまい) "sisters" | N4 |
| 親 | parent, intimacy | シン | おや、した-しい、した-しむ | 16 | 親 (おや) "parent"; 両親 (りょうしん) "both parents" | N4 |
| 友 | friend | ユウ | とも | 4 | 友 (とも) "friend"; 友達 (ともだち) "friend" | N5 |
| 自 | self | ジ、シ | みずか-ら | 6 | 自分 (じぶん) "oneself"; 自動 (じどう) "automatic" | N4 |
| 体 | body | タイ、テイ | からだ | 7 | 体 (からだ) "body"; 体育 (たいいく) "physical education" | N4 |
| 顔 | face | ガン | かお | 18 | 顔 (かお) "face"; 顔色 (かおいろ) "complexion" | N4 |
| 心 | heart, mind | シン | こころ | 4 | 心 (こころ) "heart, mind"; 安心 (あんしん) "peace of mind" | N4 |
| 何 | what | カ | なに、なん | 7 | 何 (なに/なん) "what"; 何か (なにか) "something" | N5 |
| 毎 | every | マイ | (none) | 6 | 毎日 (まいにち) "every day"; 毎週 (まいしゅう) "every week" | N5 |
School, society, work, and language (36)
| Kanji | Meaning | On'yomi | Kun'yomi | Strokes | Top-2 vocabulary | JLPT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 教 | teach | キョウ | おし-える、おそ-わる | 11 | 教える (おしえる) "to teach"; 教室 (きょうしつ) "classroom" | N4 |
| 室 | room | シツ | むろ | 9 | 教室 (きょうしつ) "classroom"; 室内 (しつない) "indoors" | N4 |
| 算 | calculate | サン | (none) | 14 | 算数 (さんすう) "arithmetic"; 計算 (けいさん) "calculation" | N3+ |
| 数 | number, count | スウ、ス | かず、かぞ-える | 13 | 数 (かず) "number"; 数学 (すうがく) "mathematics" | N3+ |
| 読 | read | ドク、トク、トウ | よ-む | 14 | 読む (よむ) "to read"; 読書 (どくしょ) "reading" | N5 |
| 書 | write, book | ショ | か-く | 10 | 書く (かく) "to write"; 図書館 (としょかん) "library" | N5 |
| 話 | talk, story | ワ | はな-す、はなし | 13 | 話す (はなす) "to speak"; 電話 (でんわ) "telephone" | N5 |
| 言 | say, word | ゲン、ゴン | い-う、こと | 7 | 言う (いう) "to say"; 言葉 (ことば) "word, language" | N3+ |
| 聞 | hear, ask | ブン、モン | き-く、き-こえる | 14 | 聞く (きく) "to hear, to ask"; 新聞 (しんぶん) "newspaper" | N5 |
| 答 | answer | トウ | こた-える、こた-え | 12 | 答える (こたえる) "to answer"; 答え (こたえ) "answer" | N4 |
| 思 | think | シ | おも-う | 9 | 思う (おもう) "to think"; 思考 (しこう) "thought" | N4 |
| 知 | know | チ | し-る | 8 | 知る (しる) "to know"; 知識 (ちしき) "knowledge" | N4 |
| 工 | craft, construction | コウ、ク | (none) | 3 | 工場 (こうじょう) "factory"; 工作 (こうさく) "handicraft" | N4 |
| 作 | make | サク、サ | つく-る | 7 | 作る (つくる) "to make"; 作品 (さくひん) "work, piece" | N4 |
| 用 | use, business | ヨウ | もち-いる | 5 | 用 (よう) "business, errand"; 用意 (ようい) "preparation" | N4 |
| 店 | shop | テン | みせ | 8 | 店 (みせ) "shop"; 書店 (しょてん) "bookstore" | N3+ |
| 売 | sell | バイ | う-る、う-れる | 7 | 売る (うる) "to sell"; 売店 (ばいてん) "kiosk, stand" | N4 |
| 買 | buy | バイ | か-う | 12 | 買う (かう) "to buy"; 買物 (かいもの) "shopping" | N3+ |
| 社 | company, shrine | シャ | やしろ | 7 | 会社 (かいしゃ) "company"; 神社 (じんじゃ) "Shinto shrine" | N3+ |
| 公 | public | コウ、ク | おおやけ | 4 | 公園 (こうえん) "park"; 公立 (こうりつ) "public (institution)" | N3+ |
| 京 | capital | キョウ、ケイ | (none) | 8 | 東京 (とうきょう) "Tokyo"; 京都 (きょうと) "Kyoto" | N4 |
| 国 | country | コク | くに | 8 | 国 (くに) "country"; 中国 (ちゅうごく) "China" | N5 |
| 市 | city, market | シ | いち | 5 | 市 (し) "city"; 市場 (いちば) "market" | N4 |
| 場 | place | ジョウ | ば | 12 | 場所 (ばしょ) "place"; 場面 (ばめん) "scene" | N4 |
| 当 | hit, just, this | トウ | あ-たる、あ-てる | 6 | 当たる (あたる) "to hit"; 本当 (ほんとう) "real, true" | N3+ |
| 番 | turn, number | バン | (none) | 12 | 一番 (いちばん) "first, most"; 番号 (ばんごう) "number" | N3+ |
| 紙 | paper | シ | かみ | 10 | 紙 (かみ) "paper"; 手紙 (てがみ) "letter" | N4 |
| 画 | picture, stroke | ガ、カク | (none) | 8 | 絵画 (かいが) "painting"; 映画 (えいが) "movie" | N4 |
| 絵 | picture, drawing | カイ、エ | (none) | 12 | 絵 (え) "picture"; 絵本 (えほん) "picture book" | N3+ |
| 記 | record, note | キ | しる-す | 10 | 記事 (きじ) "article"; 日記 (にっき) "diary" | N3+ |
| 図 | diagram, plan | ズ、ト | はか-る | 7 | 図 (ず) "diagram"; 地図 (ちず) "map" | N4 |
| 科 | section, subject | カ | (none) | 9 | 科学 (かがく) "science"; 教科書 (きょうかしょ) "textbook" | N3+ |
| 声 | voice | セイ、ショウ | こえ、こわ | 7 | 声 (こえ) "voice"; 音声 (おんせい) "audio, voice" | N4 |
| 考 | think, consider | コウ | かんが-える | 6 | 考える (かんがえる) "to consider"; 考え (かんがえ) "thought" | N4 |
| 交 | mix, cross, exchange | コウ | まじ-わる、ま-じる、ま-ぜる、か-う | 6 | 交通 (こうつう) "traffic"; 交差 (こうさ) "intersection" | N3+ |
| 光 | light, shine | コウ | ひか-る、ひかり | 6 | 光 (ひかり) "light"; 日光 (にっこう) "sunlight" | N3+ |
Nature, weather, place, and animals (29)
| Kanji | Meaning | On'yomi | Kun'yomi | Strokes | Top-2 vocabulary | JLPT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 海 | sea | カイ | うみ | 9 | 海 (うみ) "sea"; 海外 (かいがい) "overseas" | N4 |
| 谷 | valley | コク | たに | 7 | 谷 (たに) "valley"; 谷川 (たにがわ) "mountain stream" | N3+ |
| 池 | pond | チ | いけ | 6 | 池 (いけ) "pond"; 電池 (でんち) "battery" | N4 |
| 岩 | rock, boulder | ガン | いわ | 8 | 岩 (いわ) "rock"; 溶岩 (ようがん) "lava" | N3+ |
| 原 | plain, original | ゲン | はら | 10 | 原 (はら) "plain, field"; 原因 (げんいん) "cause" | N3+ |
| 野 | field, wild | ヤ | の | 11 | 野原 (のはら) "field"; 野球 (やきゅう) "baseball" | N4 |
| 星 | star | セイ、ショウ | ほし | 9 | 星 (ほし) "star"; 星座 (せいざ) "constellation" | N3+ |
| 雪 | snow | セツ | ゆき | 11 | 雪 (ゆき) "snow"; 大雪 (おおゆき) "heavy snow" | N3+ |
| 雲 | cloud | ウン | くも | 12 | 雲 (くも) "cloud"; 雨雲 (あまぐも) "rain cloud" | N3+ |
| 風 | wind, style | フウ、フ | かぜ、かざ | 9 | 風 (かぜ) "wind"; 風邪 (かぜ) "a cold" | N4 |
| 晴 | clear (weather) | セイ | は-れる、は-らす | 12 | 晴れる (はれる) "to clear up"; 晴天 (せいてん) "clear sky" | N3+ |
| 矢 | arrow | シ | や | 5 | 矢 (や) "arrow"; 弓矢 (ゆみや) "bow and arrow" | N3+ |
| 馬 | horse | バ | うま、ま | 10 | 馬 (うま) "horse"; 馬車 (ばしゃ) "horse carriage" | N3+ |
| 鳥 | bird | チョウ | とり | 11 | 鳥 (とり) "bird"; 小鳥 (ことり) "small bird" | N4 |
| 魚 | fish | ギョ | うお、さかな | 11 | 魚 (さかな) "fish"; 金魚 (きんぎょ) "goldfish" | N4 |
| 鳴 | sound, ring, cry | メイ | な-く、な-る、な-らす | 14 | 鳴く (なく) "(animal) to cry"; 鳴る (なる) "to ring" | N3+ |
| 牛 | cow, cattle | ギュウ | うし | 4 | 牛 (うし) "cow"; 牛乳 (ぎゅうにゅう) "milk" | N4 |
| 羽 | feather, wing | ウ | は、はね | 6 | 羽 (はね) "feather, wing"; 羽根 (はね) "feather" | N3+ |
| 角 | corner, horn | カク | かど、つの | 7 | 角 (かど) "corner"; 三角 (さんかく) "triangle" | N3+ |
| 毛 | hair, fur | モウ | け | 4 | 毛 (け) "hair, fur"; 毛糸 (けいと) "wool yarn" | N3+ |
| 肉 | meat, flesh | ニク | (none) | 6 | 肉 (にく) "meat"; 牛肉 (ぎゅうにく) "beef" | N4 |
| 米 | rice, America | ベイ、マイ | こめ | 6 | 米 (こめ) "rice"; 米国 (べいこく) "America" | N3+ |
| 茶 | tea | チャ、サ | (none) | 9 | 茶 (ちゃ) "tea"; お茶 (おちゃ) "tea" | N4 |
| 麦 | wheat, barley | バク | むぎ | 7 | 麦 (むぎ) "wheat"; 麦茶 (むぎちゃ) "barley tea" | N3+ |
| 黄 | yellow | コウ、オウ | き、こ | 11 | 黄色 (きいろ) "yellow"; 黄金 (おうごん) "gold" | N3+ |
| 黒 | black | コク | くろ、くろ-い | 11 | 黒 (くろ) "black"; 黒板 (こくばん) "blackboard" | N4 |
| 色 | color | ショク、シキ | いろ | 6 | 色 (いろ) "color"; 景色 (けしき) "scenery" | N4 |
| 園 | garden, park | エン | その | 13 | 公園 (こうえん) "park"; 動物園 (どうぶつえん) "zoo" | N3+ |
| 地 | ground, earth, land | チ、ジ | (none) | 6 | 地 (ち) "ground, land"; 地図 (ちず) "map" | N4 |
Direction, position, motion, and basic adjective stems (35)
| Kanji | Meaning | On'yomi | Kun'yomi | Strokes | Top-2 vocabulary | JLPT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 前 | before, front | ゼン | まえ | 9 | 前 (まえ) "before, front"; 名前 (なまえ) "name" | N5 |
| 後 | after, behind | ゴ、コウ | のち、うし-ろ、あと、おく-れる | 9 | 後 (あと) "after"; 午後 (ごご) "afternoon" | N5 |
| 北 | north | ホク | きた | 5 | 北 (きた) "north"; 北海道 (ほっかいどう) "Hokkaido" | N5 |
| 南 | south | ナン、ナ | みなみ | 9 | 南 (みなみ) "south"; 南米 (なんべい) "South America" | N5 |
| 東 | east | トウ | ひがし | 8 | 東 (ひがし) "east"; 東京 (とうきょう) "Tokyo" | N5 |
| 西 | west | セイ、サイ | にし | 6 | 西 (にし) "west"; 西洋 (せいよう) "the West" | N5 |
| 内 | inside, within | ナイ、ダイ | うち | 4 | 内 (うち) "inside"; 内側 (うちがわ) "inside" | N3+ |
| 外 | outside, foreign | ガイ、ゲ | そと、ほか、はず-す、はず-れる | 5 | 外 (そと) "outside"; 海外 (かいがい) "overseas" | N5 |
| 行 | go, do, line | コウ、ギョウ、アン | い-く、ゆ-く、おこな-う | 6 | 行く (いく) "to go"; 銀行 (ぎんこう) "bank" | N5 |
| 来 | come | ライ | く-る、きた-る、きた-す | 7 | 来る (くる) "to come"; 来年 (らいねん) "next year" | N5 |
| 帰 | return | キ | かえ-る、かえ-す | 10 | 帰る (かえる) "to return home"; 帰国 (きこく) "returning to one's country" | N4 |
| 歩 | walk | ホ、ブ、フ | ある-く、あゆ-む | 8 | 歩く (あるく) "to walk"; 散歩 (さんぽ) "a walk, stroll" | N3+ |
| 走 | run | ソウ | はし-る | 7 | 走る (はしる) "to run"; 走者 (そうしゃ) "runner" | N4 |
| 止 | stop | シ | と-まる、と-める | 4 | 止まる (とまる) "to stop"; 中止 (ちゅうし) "cancellation" | N4 |
| 通 | pass through, commute | ツウ、ツ | とお-る、とお-す、かよ-う | 10 | 通る (とおる) "to pass through"; 交通 (こうつう) "traffic" | N3+ |
| 切 | cut | セツ、サイ | き-る、き-れる | 4 | 切る (きる) "to cut"; 大切 (たいせつ) "important" | N4 |
| 引 | pull | イン | ひ-く、ひ-ける | 4 | 引く (ひく) "to pull"; 引退 (いんたい) "retirement" | N4 |
| 同 | same | ドウ | おな-じ | 6 | 同じ (おなじ) "same"; 同時 (どうじ) "simultaneous" | N4 |
| 多 | many | タ | おお-い | 6 | 多い (おおい) "many"; 多分 (たぶん) "probably" | N4 |
| 少 | few, little | ショウ | すく-ない、すこ-し | 4 | 少し (すこし) "a little"; 少年 (しょうねん) "boy" | N3+ |
| 高 | tall, expensive | コウ | たか-い、たか | 10 | 高い (たかい) "tall, expensive"; 高校 (こうこう) "high school" | N5 |
| 広 | wide | コウ | ひろ-い、ひろ-がる、ひろ-げる | 5 | 広い (ひろい) "wide"; 広場 (ひろば) "plaza" | N4 |
| 細 | thin, fine | サイ | ほそ-い、こま-かい | 11 | 細い (ほそい) "thin"; 細かい (こまかい) "fine, small" | N3+ |
| 太 | thick, fat | タイ、タ | ふと-い、ふと-る | 4 | 太い (ふとい) "thick"; 太陽 (たいよう) "sun" | N4 |
| 弱 | weak | ジャク | よわ-い、よわ-る | 10 | 弱い (よわい) "weak"; 弱点 (じゃくてん) "weak point" | N4 |
| 強 | strong | キョウ、ゴウ | つよ-い、し-いる | 11 | 強い (つよい) "strong"; 勉強 (べんきょう) "study" | N4 |
| 新 | new | シン | あたら-しい、あら-た、にい | 13 | 新しい (あたらしい) "new"; 新聞 (しんぶん) "newspaper" | N3+ |
| 直 | straight, fix | チョク、ジキ | なお-す、なお-る、ただ-ちに | 8 | 直す (なおす) "to fix"; 正直 (しょうじき) "honest" | N3+ |
| 形 | shape | ケイ、ギョウ | かた、かたち | 7 | 形 (かたち) "shape"; 形式 (けいしき) "form, format" | N3+ |
| 線 | line | セン | (none) | 15 | 線 (せん) "line"; 電車線 (でんしゃせん) "train line" | N3+ |
| 点 | point, mark | テン | (none) | 9 | 点 (てん) "point"; 点数 (てんすう) "score" | N3+ |
| 近 | near | キン | ちか-い | 7 | 近い (ちかい) "near"; 最近 (さいきん) "recently" | N4 |
| 遠 | far | エン、オン | とお-い | 13 | 遠い (とおい) "far"; 遠足 (えんそく) "field trip" | N4 |
| 長 | long, leader | チョウ | なが-い | 8 | 長い (ながい) "long"; 校長 (こうちょう) "principal" | N5 |
| 方 | direction, way, person | ホウ | かた | 4 | 方 (ほう) "direction, way"; 方向 (ほうこう) "direction" | N4 |
Everyday objects, counters, and residual (29)
| Kanji | Meaning | On'yomi | Kun'yomi | Strokes | Top-2 vocabulary | JLPT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 戸 | door | コ | と | 4 | 戸 (と) "door"; 戸口 (とぐち) "doorway" | N3+ |
| 門 | gate | モン | かど | 8 | 門 (もん) "gate"; 専門 (せんもん) "specialty" | N4 |
| 弓 | bow (weapon) | キュウ | ゆみ | 3 | 弓 (ゆみ) "bow"; 弓道 (きゅうどう) "Japanese archery" | N3+ |
| 刀 | sword | トウ | かたな | 2 | 刀 (かたな) "sword"; 日本刀 (にほんとう) "Japanese sword" | N3+ |
| 船 | ship, boat | セン | ふね、ふな | 11 | 船 (ふね) "ship"; 船員 (せんいん) "crew member" | N3+ |
| 計 | measure, plan | ケイ | はか-る、はか-らう | 9 | 時計 (とけい) "clock"; 計算 (けいさん) "calculation" | N4 |
| 才 | talent, age (counter) | サイ | (none) | 3 | 才能 (さいのう) "talent"; 三才 (さんさい) "three years old" | N3+ |
| 台 | platform, machine (counter) | ダイ、タイ | (none) | 5 | 台 (だい) "stand, counter for machines"; 台所 (だいどころ) "kitchen" | N4 |
| 家 | house, family | カ、ケ | いえ、や | 10 | 家 (いえ) "house"; 家族 (かぞく) "family" | N4 |
| 寺 | temple | ジ | てら | 6 | 寺 (てら) "temple"; 寺院 (じいん) "temple" | N3+ |
| 回 | rotate, turn (counter) | カイ、エ | まわ-る、まわ-す | 6 | 回 (かい) "time, occurrence"; 回る (まわる) "to rotate" | N3+ |
| 会 | meet, association | カイ、エ | あ-う | 6 | 会う (あう) "to meet"; 会社 (かいしゃ) "company" | N5 |
| 合 | fit, combine, suit | ゴウ、ガッ、カッ | あ-う、あ-わせる | 6 | 合う (あう) "to fit"; 試合 (しあい) "match, game" | N3+ |
| 汽 | steam | キ | (none) | 7 | 汽車 (きしゃ) "steam train"; 汽船 (きせん) "steamship" | N3+ |
| 楽 | comfort, music | ガク、ラク | たの-しい、たの-しむ | 13 | 楽しい (たのしい) "fun"; 音楽 (おんがく) "music" | N4 |
| 活 | active, lively | カツ | (none) | 9 | 生活 (せいかつ) "daily life"; 活動 (かつどう) "activity" | N3+ |
| 明 | bright, clear | メイ、ミョウ | あか-るい、あ-ける、あき-らか | 8 | 明るい (あかるい) "bright"; 説明 (せつめい) "explanation" | N4 |
| 電 | electricity | デン | (none) | 13 | 電気 (でんき) "electricity"; 電車 (でんしゃ) "train" | N5 |
| 食 | eat, food | ショク、ジキ | た-べる、く-う、く-らう | 9 | 食べる (たべる) "to eat"; 食事 (しょくじ) "meal" | N5 |
| 理 | logic, reason | リ | (none) | 11 | 理由 (りゆう) "reason"; 料理 (りょうり) "cooking" | N4 |
| 里 | village, league (distance) | リ | さと | 7 | 里 (さと) "village, hometown"; 古里 (ふるさと) "old village, hometown" | N3+ |
| 首 | neck, head, chief | シュ | くび | 9 | 首 (くび) "neck"; 首都 (しゅと) "capital city" | N4 |
| 頭 | head | トウ、ズ、ト | あたま、かしら | 16 | 頭 (あたま) "head"; 先頭 (せんとう) "front, head of a line" | N4 |
| 道 | road, way | ドウ、トウ | みち | 12 | 道 (みち) "road, way"; 道路 (どうろ) "road, highway" | N3+ |
| 丸 | round, circle | ガン | まる、まる-い、まる-める | 3 | 丸 (まる) "circle"; 丸い (まるい) "round" | N3+ |
| 組 | group, set, assemble | ソ | く-む、くみ | 11 | 組 (くみ) "group, class"; 組立 (くみたて) "assembly" | N3+ |
| 午 | noon | ゴ | (none) | 4 | 午前 (ごぜん) "morning, A.M."; 午後 (ごご) "afternoon, P.M." | N5 |
| 歌 | song, sing | カ | うた、うた-う | 14 | 歌 (うた) "song"; 歌手 (かしゅ) "singer" | N4 |
| 語 | language, word | ゴ | かた-る、かた-らう | 14 | 日本語 (にほんご) "Japanese language"; 物語 (ものがたり) "story" | N5 |
A few notes on the table data. All 160 character forms are from the 常用漢字表, and the grade-2 allocation follows the H29 学習指導要領 (2017 course of study).21 Reading sets are restricted to the most frequent on'yomi and kun'yomi. The full 常用漢字表 reading set for 行, 後, 自, 通, and 切 runs to five or more readings each.2
Several characters carry only one half of the on/kun pair at the grade-2 reading level. 週, 曜, 算, 万, 紙 (on-only in compounds), 画, 絵, 記, 茶, 黄, 線, 点, 公 (kun rare in modern use), 京, 場, 番, 用, 科, 才, 台, 汽, 活, 電, 理, 楽 (kun only via たの-しい), and a few others have a kun-or-on-only allocation listed in the 常用漢字表 for the grade-2 reading set. The table records the dominant pair only.29
A short example puts the table in context:
二年生は百六十字の漢字を学びます。5
"Second-graders learn one hundred sixty kanji."
Patterns within grade 2
Time, calendar, and counting (時 分 半 週 曜 朝 昼 夜 今 古 春 夏 秋 冬 元 万 間)
This cluster builds on grade 1's days-of-the-week kanji (日, 月, 火, 水, 木, 金, 土). It adds the components that turn isolated weekday names into a working calendar: 時 (hour), 分 (minute), 半 (half), 週 (week), 曜 (weekday), and the four-season set 春 夏 秋 冬.95
時, 分, and 半 enable clock-telling. 一時半 (いちじはん, "1:30") and 三時十五分 (さんじじゅうごふん, "3:15") are the first three-character time expressions a beginner produces.5
今、三時半です。5
"It is 3:30 now."
曜 appears only in the compound 曜日 (ようび) and its derived forms (月曜日 げつようび "Monday", etc.). In modern Japanese, the character is essentially a 専用字 (specialized character) for weekday names.56
万 (man) extends the number system above 千. The 一・十・百・千・万 series is now complete for everyday prices and dates. The next decimal grouping, 億, is a grade-4 kanji.3
Family, people, and the first reflexive (父 母 兄 姉 弟 妹 親 友 自 体 顔 心 何 毎)
The household kanji enter as sibling and parent pairs: 兄/姉 (older brother / older sister), 弟/妹 (younger brother / younger sister), and 父/母 (father / mother). The kanji 親 (parent) collects the parents into 両親 (りょうしん, "both parents").5
The four-character set 兄弟姉妹 (きょうだいしまい, "siblings") is a high-frequency compound that uses all four grade-2 sibling kanji at once.56
自 introduces the first reflexive pronoun a learner can read. 自分 (じぶん, "oneself") is the most common reflexive in modern Japanese.5 The reading ジ in 自分 is the on'yomi. The kun'yomi みずか-ら (used in 自ら "by oneself") is less common at this level.2
何 reads なに before a vowel or a particle (何か なにか "something", 何が なにが "what is …"), but なん before a counter or the copula (何時 なんじ "what time", 何ですか なんですか "what is it?").56 This is the first grade-2 kanji where the kun reading is selected by the following sound, not by the character itself. A learner who memorizes only one reading will mispronounce roughly half their questions.
毎 (every) pairs with calendar nouns to form a productive series: 毎日, 毎週, 毎月, 毎年, 毎朝, 毎晩. All are readable from grade-2 kanji except 晩 (grade 6).53
School, society, work, and language (教 室 算 数 読 書 話 言 聞 答 思 知 工 作 用 店 売 買 社 公 京 国 市 場 当 番 紙 画 絵 記 図 科 声 考 交 光)
This cluster covers the first multi-kanji school-subject names a Japanese second-grader writes: 国語 (こくご, "Japanese"), 算数 (さんすう, "arithmetic"), 図工 (ずこう, "art and crafts"), 生活 (せいかつ, "life studies", uses grade-1 生 + grade-2 活), and 音楽 (おんがく, uses grade-1 音 + grade-2 楽).95
The five language-action verb kanji are now all readable: 読む (read), 書く (write), 話す (speak), 言う (say), 聞く (hear/ask). Together with 答える (answer), 思う (think), 知る (know), and grade-1 見る (see), they form the basic set of cognitive verbs.5
The commerce pair 売 (sell) and 買 (buy) is the first antonym pair built from a shared semantic component (貝, grade 1). Both characters contain the 貝 (shell, traditional money symbol) component.617 This is one of the clearest 意符 (semantic) signals in the grade-2 set.
毎朝、母は新聞を読みます。5
"Every morning, my mother reads the newspaper."
場 (place) is one of the most productive grade-2 kanji for compounds: 場所 (ばしょ, "place"), 工場 (こうじょう, "factory"), 市場 (いちば, "market"), 広場 (ひろば, "plaza"), 会場 (かいじょう, "venue"). Several of these compounds combine 場 with another grade-2 kanji.56
Nature, weather, place, and animals (海 谷 池 岩 原 野 星 雪 雲 風 晴 矢 馬 鳥 魚 鳴 牛 羽 角 毛 肉 米 茶 麦 黄 黒 色 園 地)
This cluster extends grade 1's nature set (山, 川, 田, 雨, 草, 花, 林, 森, 石) outward to weather (雪, 雲, 風, 晴) and to a small farm-and-zoo set of animals (馬, 牛, 鳥, 魚).9
晴 (clear weather) shows the first transparent semantic-phonetic kanji a learner can decode: 日 (sun, meaning component) + 青 (blue, phonetic component, also a grade-1 character). 晴 reads セイ, the same on'yomi as 青.617
Grade 2 completes the basic colour set: 黄 (yellow), 黒 (black), 茶 (tea, used as the colour brown in 茶色 ちゃいろ), plus 色 (the colour-suffix kanji itself). Combined with grade-1 青, 白, and 赤, these cover the everyday palette except 緑 (green, grade 3) and 紫 (purple, secondary school).3
鳴 (sound, cry) takes very different kun readings depending on animacy: 鳥が鳴く ("the bird cries") uses な-く, while ベルが鳴る ("the bell rings") uses な-る. The character is 口 + 鳥, so its meaning is transparent.56
今日は晴れていて、空に雲が少ない。5
"Today it is clear, and there are few clouds in the sky."
Direction, position, motion, and basic adjective stems (前 後 北 南 東 西 内 外 行 来 帰 歩 走 止 通 切 引 同 多 少 高 広 細 太 弱 強 新 直 形 線 点 近 遠 長 方)
This cluster contains the first cardinal-direction set (北 南 東 西). It enables place expressions like 東京 (Tokyo, "eastern capital") and 関西 (Kansai, "the western barrier", using grade-2 西).56
行 is one of the highest-reading-count grade-2 kanji: コウ, ギョウ, アン (on) + い-く, ゆ-く, おこな-う (kun). The kun readings split by context: 行く is "to go", 行う is "to perform, carry out". This is the first grade-2 kanji where the on/kun split expands into a second split between kun readings.25
後 carries three voiced kun readings (のち, あと, うし-ろ) and two on readings (ゴ, コウ). 後ろ (うしろ, "behind") is spatial. 後 (あと, "after") is temporal. 後 (のち, "later") is more literary. The on'yomi appears in 午後 (ごご, "P.M.") and 後悔 (こうかい, "regret").56 This is a multi-reading kanji a beginner has to learn by context, not by rule.
The okurigana patterns for grade-2 motion and adjective verbs appear in the 常用漢字表 okurigana table: 行く・行う, 来る・来す, 帰る・帰す, 歩く・歩む, 走る, 止まる・止める, 通る・通す・通う, 切る・切れる, 引く・引ける.2 These patterns recur across higher-grade verb kanji.
The adjective-stem subgroup (多 少 高 広 細 太 弱 強 新 直) gives a learner the first set of antonym pairs that share a grade: 多/少, 細/太, 弱/強, and 新/古 (using 古 from the time cluster).53
Everyday objects, counters, and residual (戸 門 弓 刀 船 計 才 台 家 寺 回 会 合 汽 楽 活 明 電 食 理 里 首 頭 道 丸 組 午 歌 語)
The counter cluster is small but important: 才 (age, e.g. 三才 "three years old"), 台 (machines, e.g. 一台 "one machine"), 回 (occurrences, e.g. 一回 "one time"). These are the first three counters a learner writes in kanji beyond grade 1's つ counter (used with 一つ, 二つ).56
食 (eat, food) is the highest-yield grade-2 verb kanji for vocabulary: 食べる (たべる), 食事 (しょくじ), 食物 (たべもの / しょくもつ), 食堂 (しょくどう), 食欲 (しょくよく).5
道 (road, way) is the second-most-productive grade-2 kanji for compounds: 道 (みち) "road", 道路 (どうろ) "road, highway", 鉄道 (てつどう) "railroad", 書道 (しょどう) "calligraphy", 弓道 (きゅうどう) "Japanese archery". The character also names the traditional Japanese "ways" (柔道 jūdō, 剣道 kendō, 茶道 sadō).56 The morpheme extends from "physical road" to "path of practice".
寺 (temple) and 時 (time) form the first fully readable grade-2 phonetic series: 時 = 日 + 寺, with 寺 acting as the phonetic component. Both characters have the on'yomi ジ. 詩 (poetry, secondary school) and 持 (hold, grade 3) extend the series further.617
Phonetic and semantic patterns first visible at grade 2
Grade 2 is the first grade in which the 形声 (keisei, phono-semantic compound) kanji begin to outnumber the pure pictographs.517 The 形声 category combines a semantic component (意符, ifu), which hints at meaning, with a phonetic component (音符, onpu), which hints at the on'yomi. Both halves of the system become learnable at grade 2 because the set is now large enough to show two or more members of the same series in the same school year.
The first phonetic series a learner can name
Phonetic series (sets of kanji that share a phonetic component and therefore share an on'yomi) become useful in practice at grade 2. The clearest series visible by grade 2 are:
- The 青 series (セイ): grade-1 青 (blue/green) is the phonetic component; grade-2 晴 (clear weather) = 日 + 青 reads セイ; secondary-school 清 (pure) = 氵 + 青 also reads セイ.617
- The 寺 series (ジ / シ): grade-2 寺 (temple) is the phonetic component; grade-2 時 (time) = 日 + 寺 reads ジ; secondary-school 詩 (poetry) = 言 + 寺 reads シ.617
- The 工 series (コウ): grade-2 工 (craft) reads コウ; grade-6 紅 (crimson) = 糸 + 工 reads コウ; secondary 江 (large river) = 氵 + 工 reads コウ.617
- The 同 series (ドウ): grade-2 同 (same) is the phonetic component; grade-5 銅 (copper) = 金 + 同 reads ドウ; secondary 筒 (tube) = 竹 + 同 reads トウ.617
The 青 series is the cleanest illustration because both halves are visible at grade 2: 青 itself is grade 1, and the derived 晴 is grade 2.
The key teaching point is that grade 2 is the year a learner can first observe both members of a phonetic series in the same school year. At grade 1, the phonetic components exist (青, 工), but their derived members are deferred. The reading-prediction skill (氵 + known phonetic → guess the on'yomi) becomes useful in practice from grade 2 onward. "Phonetic Components in Kanji (音符): The Hidden Reading Hint in 75% of Kanji" walks through the underlying mechanism.
Semantic radicals that recur
The other half of 形声 logic is the 意符 (ifu, semantic component / radical). Grade 2 contains several radicals that mark meaning families the learner will meet again in grades 3–6:
- 氵 (water radical, derived from 水) in 海 and 池: both are water-bodies. The radical marks "water" or "liquid" across 江, 河, 湖, 港, and dozens of higher-grade characters.617
- 言 (speech radical) in 読, 話, 言, 語, 計, 記: every member of this group is a verb of speech or recording. The productivity extends to grade-3 詩 (poetry) and dozens more.617
- 心 (heart radical) in 思: the standalone 心 (grade 2) is the radical; 思 (think) = 田 + 心. The same radical reduces to 忄 (left-side variant) in grade-3 性, 怖, 快.617
- 彳 (path radical) in 後, 行: marks motion-along-a-path. Used in grade-3 役, 待, 律.617
- 辶 (走之, derived from 行) in 近, 遠, 通, 道: marks motion or going. Grade-3 進, 速, 運 extend the series.617
The grade-2 set is the first body of kanji large enough to make these semantic-radical patterns visible. A grade-1 learner sees the radical 木 in 林 and 森, but the radical's productivity is limited to those two characters. A grade-2 learner sees 氵 in two characters (海, 池), and the same radical recurs in 漁, 注, 浴, 浮 within a few grades.17 "Semantic Components in Kanji (意符): What the Water, Person, and Tree Radicals Tell You About Meaning" expands the pattern beyond the grade-2 set.
How grade 2 maps to JLPT N5 and N4
The N5 majority and the N4 tail
The Wikibooks reconstruction places 32 of the 160 grade-2 kanji on N5 (20% of the grade). A much larger 71 kanji are on N4 (44%), and 57 kanji are at N3 or higher (36%).1112
Every single one of the 81 Wikibooks N5 kanji is allocated to grade 1 (49 characters) or grade 2 (32 characters), with zero residual N5 kanji at grades 3 or above.113 This is why grade 2 is the natural N5 completion target for an L2 learner: finishing the grade-1 and grade-2 lists closes the N5 kanji set in the Wikibooks reconstruction.
The 32 N5-overlapping grade-2 kanji are the concrete-vocabulary subset: time and direction (時, 半, 分, 前, 後, 午, 北, 南, 東, 西), family (父, 母, 友), action verbs (行, 来, 読, 書, 聞, 話, 食, 会), and the high-frequency function words (何, 今, 毎, 万, 国, 高, 長, 外, 電, 語).115
The JLPTsensei reconstruction agrees on 31 of these 32; the only point of disagreement is 会, which Wikibooks places on N5 and JLPTsensei pushes to N4.1115
Where it diverges: grade 2 kanji that JLPT delays, and N5 kanji that are not grade 2
71 grade-2 kanji sit on N4 because they appear in compounds whose dominant vocabulary is N4-level: 教 in 教科書, 親 in 両親, 答 in 質問・答え, 思 in 思考, 知 in 知識, 計 in 計算, 直 in 正直.125
The 57 grade-2 kanji at N3 or higher in the Wikibooks reconstruction are the largest divergence between MEXT and JLPT. These include kanji that a Japanese 7-year-old uses constantly: rural and natural-world vocabulary like 谷, 池, 岩, 原, 野, 雪, 雲, 矢, 馬, 鳥, 魚, 牛, 羽, 角, 毛, 麦, 黄, 米, 里; traditional-Japan vocabulary like 寺, 弓, 刀, 船, 汽, 才; and several function kanji (回, 合, 同, 多, 少, 直, 形, 点, 当, 番, 公) that the JLPT ranks higher because they appear in N3-level abstract compounds.11123
"N3+" here means "above N4 in the Wikibooks reconstruction." Many of these kanji are N3, but the exact N3/N2 split varies more across reconstructions and is less stable than the N5/N4 cut.1213
The reverse mismatch (N5 kanji that are not grade 2) is zero: every Wikibooks N5 kanji is grade 1 or grade 2.113 The grade-1 article noted 31 N5 kanji outside grade 1. Those 31 are exactly the grade-2 N5 set above. Grade 2 is therefore the complete N5 target in this structure.
Cross-walk table: grade 2 ↔ JLPT mismatches
| Direction | Count | Kanji |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 2 AND N5 (overlap) | 32 | 何会外間午後語行高国今時書食西前長電東読南半父分聞母北毎万友来話 |
| Grade 2, Wikibooks N4 | 71 | 引遠夏家歌画海楽顔帰牛京強教近兄計元工広光考合黒作止市姉思紙自室弱首秋春場色心親図声切走太体台地池知茶昼鳥朝弟冬答頭同肉売風方妹明門夜野用曜理 |
| Grade 2, N3 or higher in Wikibooks | 57 | 羽雲園科回絵角活丸岩汽記弓魚形言原戸古公交黄谷才細算矢寺社週少新数星晴雪船線組多直通店点刀当道内馬買麦番米歩鳴毛里 |
| N5 not in grades 1 or 2 | 0 | (none) |
Set arithmetic is drawn from the Wikibooks N5 and N4 reconstructions.11123
Good to know
Grade 2 is where kanji start working as a system
Grade 1 was largely a set of standalone pictographs: 山 means "mountain", and the learner writes it. Grade 2 introduces the compound-vocabulary year. 時間, 教室, 自分, 国語, 算数, 図工, 兄弟, 姉妹, 家族, 毎日, 毎週, 今週, and 来年 all become fully readable once the grade-2 set is known.56 Grade-1 学校 was already a compound, so the compound-decoding skill begins there. Grade 2 is where it scales.
At grade 1, the median kanji appears in 1–2 high-frequency compounds; at grade 2, the median kanji appears in 3–5.56 The skill the learner needs to build is compound decoding: seeing two grade-1-or-grade-2 kanji together and predicting the compound's meaning and reading.
For adult L2 learners, grade 2 is the first milestone where it becomes more efficient to learn vocabulary that contains the kanji than to learn the kanji in isolation. The mechanism is covered in J-Compass's kanji-via-vocab strategy article.
Stroke counts climb but the modal band stays manageable
Grade 1's ceiling was 12 strokes (森). Grade 2's ceiling is 18 strokes (顔 and 曜), and the second-highest is 16 strokes (親 and 頭).78 The increase reflects the introduction of compound-radical kanji that were not present in grade 1, such as 頁 (head) in 顔 and 頭, and the 翟 grouping in 曜.
The modal stroke band moves from grade 1's 4–5 strokes to grade 2's 6–9 strokes: roughly 20 kanji at 6 strokes, 18 at 7 strokes, 15 at 8 strokes, and 18 at 9 strokes.7 These four bands account for about 71 of the 160 grade-2 kanji.
For writing practice, the grade-2 set roughly doubles the median writing time per character compared with grade 1, but no single character is unmanageable. The harder skill is stroke-order memorization for 9-to-12-stroke characters where the order is less obvious, such as the 雨 component in 雲 and 雪, and the 言 component in 語, 読, and 話.8 "How to Count Kanji Strokes (画数): …" lays out the eight basic strokes the count is built from.
Many grade 2 kanji are phono-semantic, not pictographs
The 六書 (rikusho, "six categories") classification places most grade-2 kanji in the 形声 (keisei, phono-semantic compound) category. Grade 1, by contrast, was dominated by 象形 (pictographic) and 指事 (simple ideograph).5617
Three worked examples are readable at grade 2: 晴 (clear weather) = 日 (sun, semantic) + 青 (blue, phonetic), with the phonetic giving セイ; 時 (time) = 日 (sun, semantic) + 寺 (temple, phonetic), with the phonetic giving ジ; 海 (sea) = 氵 (water, semantic) + 毎 (every, phonetic), with the phonetic giving カイ.617
Because 形声 kanji are now the majority, grade 2 becomes the leverage point for reading-prediction skills. For the underlying classification, see J-Compass's article on the six categories of kanji.
行 alone carries six readings on the 常用漢字表
The grade-2 kanji with the most readings is 行. It has the on'yomi コウ, ギョウ, and アン and the kun'yomi い-く, ゆ-く, and おこな-う (six readings on the 常用漢字表).2 The アン reading is rare (mostly 行脚 あんぎゃ, "pilgrimage on foot"); the other five are routinely encountered.5
Other notable multi-reading grade-2 kanji are 後 (ゴ, コウ, のち, うし-ろ, あと, おく-れる), 自 (ジ, シ, みずか-ら), 通 (ツウ, ツ, とお-る, とお-す, かよ-う), and 切 (セツ, サイ, き-る, き-れる).25 The compounds 銀行 (ぎんこう, コウ), 行う (おこなう, kun), 旅行 (りょこう, コウ), 行列 (ぎょうれつ, ギョウ), and 行脚 (あんぎゃ, アン) all use 行 with different readings across both on/kun and within the on'yomi set itself. The reading is predictable from the compound, not from the kanji in isolation. The two-reading framework behind this multiplicity is covered in "On'yomi vs. Kun'yomi: The Two-Reading System Behind Every Kanji".
Vocab-first study outperforms isolated-character study at grade 2
The master table is a reference, not a study order. The jump in compound density at grade 2 means vocabulary-first study (anchoring kanji to whole words) outperforms isolated-character study at this grade.175 A learner who memorizes 自 in isolation will still struggle with 自分, 自動, 自然, and 自由. A learner who memorizes 自分 first will find the rest more readable.
Two sound study orders differ from the table's pedagogical clustering. Compound-frequency order builds vocabulary around BCCWJ-frequent compounds18: start with 時間, 自分, 学校, 教室, 友達, 家族, 毎日, 今日, and 明日, each of which uses two or three grade-1-or-grade-2 kanji. Phonetic-series order groups the kanji by shared phonetic component: the 青/晴, 寺/時, 工/紅, and 同/銅 series let a learner master one on-reading and apply it across multiple characters. This order works especially well from grade 2 onward.17
Whichever order is chosen, the table itself serves as the coverage checklist for the grade-2 milestone. For the broader strategy hub, see J-Compass's how-to-learn-kanji article.
See also
- Grade 3 Jōyō Kanji (小3): All 200 Third-Grade Kanji with Readings, Stroke Counts, and JLPT Mapping
- Secondary School Jōyō Kanji (中学校 + 高等学校): The 1,110-Character Set Beyond Elementary
- How to Predict the Reading of an Unknown Kanji Compound: The On+On Default, Jūbako, Yutō, and the Look-It-Up Bucket
- Should You Learn Kanji in Frequency Order, School Order, or Pedagogical Order?
- Rendaku in Kanji Compounds: Why 紙 Becomes -gami
- The History of Kanji: From Oracle Bones to the Jōyō List