1. Press Start Find. Empty fields appear.

2. Paste or type a character

3. Press Find button

Search by Kanji field

Begin by pressing Start Find button. Paste or type a character into the Kanji field. Characters can be copied from web pages or other digital documents and pasted. Press Find button.

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Search by Reading field

Type a reading into the Reading field. Many times a person may remember the on reading but forget the kun readings, or vice versa. This can also be helpful when the user suspects a reading but is not sure the recollection is accurate.

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1. Determine SKIP pattern

2. Type in pattern number

Search by SKIP field

SKIP is a method of indexing characters by geometric patterns. It is very intuitive, and it helps when faced with an unfamiliar character, especially characters on printed material.

Determine the SKIP pattern and enter it into the Kanjifind Online SKIP field.

See SKIP Examples for more information.

The System of Kanji Indexing by Patterns (SKIP) is copyright 1990 by Jack Halpern and used by agreement.

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Search by Meaning field

In some cases, a user may remember the English equivalent for a character but forget its reading. Type in the character to find a match. Only exact matches can be found.

In other cases, a person may want to find a character that is equivalent to an idea he or she wants to express. A character may be found, but a regular dictionary should be consulted to determine if the usage of the kanji accurately expresses the sought concept.

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Search by KLD field

Searching by KLD field will yield all of the readings for a single character. First find the needed character, note the KLD number for the character, then start and new search and enter the KLD number.

KLD stands for The Kodansha Kanji Learner's Dictionary. The KLD number in Kanjifind Online corresponds to the entry number in this dictionary, enabling quick location of the character in the dictionary for additional information about the kanji.

See Recommended at Blue Sea Press for more information about The Kodansha Kanji Learner's Dictionary.

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Narrow results by setting reading type

Narrow search with Type field

The Type field is not generally used by itself but is very helpful when used in conjunction with other fields. It narrows the search results so that less entries are present for evaluation.

For example, nearly every kanji has an on reading, and in addition, there is often only 1 or 2 onreadings for each character. By conducting a search with the Type field set to "On", there is a very high probability that the sought character will be in the search results, while at the same time the results are fewer and will be easier to evaluate than if the Type field had not been used.

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Some common radicals

Narrow search with Radical field

It can also be helpful to narrow the search results with the radical field. Radicals are indexing elements that have been used for centuries. There are 214 radicals, and each has a corresponding number.

The table at left shows frequently used radicals. Each has a radical number. Type the radical into the field when doing a search.

For more information about radicals and their corresponding numbers, see the The Kodansha Kanji Learner's Dictionary, for which details are available at the Blue Sea Press Recommended page.

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Use other fields in combination

Use any of the fields in combination to narrow search results and more quickly find a character. The more accurately a search is made, the more likely the character will be in the found set. And the smaller the found set can be made, the easier it will be to evaluate the entries in the set to determine if the information needed is present.

Different situations will call for different search patterns. By considering the options when starting a search, the user can quickly develop a new search combination that will produce the needed kanji.

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Scroll through search results set

After search results appear in the window, scroll to see all the entries. Information for each character appears on a single line for easy evaluation.

Kanjifind Online returns only 25 entries of any search result set. Click the left and right notebook page icons to view other entries of the search results. KanjiFind Advanced does not have this limitation, and it allows scrolling of search results with the keyboard page up and page down keys.

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KanjiFind Advanced search capabilities

KanjiFind Advanced offers many functions that are not included with Kanjifind Online. Search parameters can be further defined, searches are much faster, and all 8053 readings are present. In addition, window appearance can be modified, multiple windows can be opened, and keyboard shortcuts make searches even faster.

QuickTime Video (2.3 MB)

See KanjiFind Advanced for more information.