Kanji Quiz: Questions and Answers, From Easy Readings to Hard Kanji

1. Question 1: 夕立 is yuudachi, a sudden shower on a summer evening. Both kanji are grade 1. Note the voiced "da" instead of "ta".
2. Question 2: 八百屋 is yaoya, the greengrocer. 八百 ("eight hundred") just means "a great many". 八 and 百 are grade 1, 屋 is grade 3.
3. Question 3: 図書館 is toshokan, the library. 図 and 書 are grade 2, 館 is grade 3. 図 can be read zu, but here it is read to.
4. Question 4: 大工 is daiku, a carpenter. 大 is grade 1, 工 is grade 2. Here 工 is read ku, not kou.
5. Question 5: 作文 is sakubun, a composition. 作 is grade 2, 文 is grade 1. 文 can be read bun, mon or fumi, and 作文 is normally sakubun.
6. Question 6: 手紙 is tegami, a letter. 手 is grade 1, 紙 is grade 2. It is an example of rendaku, where kami becomes gami in a compound.

In Japanese elementary schools, children learn 80 kanji in grade 1, 160 in grade 2 and 200 in grade 3. The reading questions are not hard because of the kanji themselves, but because they test reading rules such as the voicing in yuudachi.

1. Question 1: All three have 言 on the left, so the radical is gonben (the "speech" radical). It appears in many kanji about words and talking.
2. Question 2: All three have the grass shape (艹) on top, so the radical is kusakanmuri. It looks a lot like takekanmuri (bamboo), which is why it is easy to mix up.
3. Question 3: All three have the shape (辶) that sweeps along the bottom left: shinnyou. It shows up in many kanji about roads and movement.
4. Question 4: All three have 犭 on the left: kemonohen (the "beast" radical). It is a squashed form of 犬 and appears in many animal kanji.
5. Question 5: In all three, the 門 (gate) shape surrounds the inside: mongamae. Kunigamae wraps all four sides and dougamae wraps top and sides, so they are easy to confuse.
6. Question 6: The answer is 漁. 鯛, 鮪 and 鰆 have 魚 on the left, but 漁 is water (氵) plus 魚, so its radical is the water radical. The fish sits on the right, so it is not a fish-radical kanji.

A radical is not only a clue for looking a kanji up in a dictionary but also a shortcut to its meaning. Gonben suggests words and the water radical suggests water, so knowing radicals helps you guess a kanji you have never seen.

1. Question 1: Put the sun 日 next to the moon 月 and you get 明 (bright). 間 is 門 + 日, 期 is 其 + 月, and 時 is 日 + 寺.
2. Question 2: 女 next to 子 makes 好 (to like). 字 is 宀 + 子, 安 is 宀 + 女, and 姉 is 女 + 市.
3. Question 3: Put 力 (strength) under 田 (rice field) and you get 男 (man), someone putting strength into the field. 町 is 田 + 丁, 加 is 力 + 口, and 助 is 且 + 力.
4. Question 4: 言 plus 十 gives 計 (to count, to measure). 記 is 言 + 己, 語 is 言 + 吾, and 読 is 言 + 売.
5. Question 5: 口 (mouth) plus 鳥 (bird) is 鳴 (to cry, to sing). 鳩 is 九 + 鳥, 鶏 is 奚 + 鳥, and 鴨 is 甲 + 鳥.
6. Question 6: 立 and 日 form 音, and 心 under it gives 意 (meaning, intention). 思 is 田 + 心, 想 is 相 + 心, and 息 is 自 + 心.

Kanji addition is about how characters are built. Some wrong options are missing a part and others have an extra one, so the trick is to find the kanji made of exactly these parts.

1. Question 1: 海豚 is iruka, the dolphin. It is a small member of the whale family. The 豚 (pig) in the spelling has nothing to do with pigs as animals.
2. Question 2: 土竜 is mogura, the mole. Literally "earth dragon", a name for the animal that tunnels through the soil.
3. Question 3: 秋刀魚 is sanma, the Pacific saury. It is at its best in autumn (秋) and shaped like a slim sword (刀).
4. Question 4: 海鼠 is namako, the sea cucumber. Literally "sea rat", said to come from its rat-like shape.
5. Question 5: 薩摩芋 is satsumaimo, the sweet potato. Satsuma is the old name of today's Kagoshima, from where it spread in the Edo period.
6. Question 6: 蒲公英 is tanpopo, the dandelion, the yellow roadside flower whose seeds fly off as fluff.

1. Question 1: The answer is 疑, making 半信半疑: half believing, half doubting.
2. Question 2: The answer is 心, making 心機一転. 心機 is the workings of the mind and 一転 is a complete turn, so a fresh start in attitude.
3. Question 3: 臨機応変 means responding in a way that fits the situation. 臨機 is facing the moment and 応変 is adapting to change.
4. Question 4: さじを投げる means to give up on something as hopeless. It is said to come from doctors who threw down the spoon they mixed medicine with when they could do nothing more for a patient.
5. Question 5: It teaches that you should leave a place clean and in order. The image is a waterbird taking off without muddying the water.
6. Question 6: The answer is 回, making 急がば回れ: if you are in a hurry, go the long way round. A sure road beats a risky shortcut.

• Use it in the first five minutes of a lesson. Four to six questions from the reading round switch the class into Japanese-language mode before the textbook opens, and the short explanation can lead into the day's kanji.
• It also works for homework and self-study. Make the quiz playable solo and children can retry it at their own pace. The radical and addition questions are a natural reason to pick up a dictionary.
• For brain training with older adults, use rounds 4 and 5. Many older players are good at hard readings, idioms and proverbs. Read each question aloud and let each table share one tablet and decide together.
• Leave a little time after each answer. The short explanation shown after every question has the kind of detail people want to repeat, such as the voiced sound in yuudachi or the difference between the grass and bamboo radicals.