Radical. v.12*

The first bilingual Japanese kanji dictionary designed to truly help learners accurately identify meaning and phonetic radicals. Creating a project like this inspired me to learn programming (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Python) and explore AI. If you'd like to support the development of Radical, you can donate here. You can also book a free trial Japanese class with me here or find out what I'm up to on LinkedIn, YouTube or TikTok or Instagram.

Radicals are the building blocks of kanji. Some radicals show the meaning, while others indicate the on’yomi reading, used when two kanji are together. For example, 泊まる means "to stay" and is read とまる. When 泊 is next to another kanji, it's read ハク, because it contains the phonetic radical 白. Similarly, 伯, 迫, and 拍 are read ハク but have different meanings based on their meaning radicals. None of them have to do with 'white'.

*Version 12 [released Oct 26, 2025] added the Vocabulary Tab on the Google Play app, where learners can study their vocabulary with interactive quizzes and keep up with their study progress. Radical now contains 210,641 words, 805 phonetic radicals, 278 meaning radicals, 6,368 kanji, 246,737 sample sentences and 9,756 JLPT tags, partly obtained from JMDict, KANJIDIC, Tatoeba, Ishizawa-sensei's blog, and my own memory. Radical's new version on Google Play will soon be updated to contain features such as tracking kanji & radical acquisition progress (not just vocabulary) and study plans by JLPT level.

*Version 11 [released Aug 27, 2025] added improved the "Your Vocabulary List" functionality on the Google Play app, where you now you can add words directly from the Dictionary tab, as well as visual and speed improvements.

*Version 10 [released Aug 23, 2025] added the Your Vocabulary List functionality on the Google Play app, where you can add your words, sort them by JLPT level, added date or alphabetical order, and study them by hiding their kanji, hiragana, or meaning, as well as editing and deleting entries.

*Version 9 [released Aug 14, 2025] enhanced query speed again, and added a four-tab structure on the app: Dictionary (where you can look up words even faster), Test (where you can do hiragana and katakana quizzes), Study (where you can study your kana) and Ask (soon to be released). It now contains 210,641 words, 805 phonetic radicals, 278 meaning radicals, 6,368 kanji, 246,737 sample sentences and 9,756 JLPT tags, partly obtained from JMDict, KANJIDIC, Tatoeba, Ishizawa-sensei's blog, and my own memory. Radical's new version on Google Play will soon be updated to contain features such as tracking kanji & radical acquisition progress, customizable tests, and study plans by JLPT level.

*Version 8 [released Aug 6, 2025] enhanced query speed by 300%, increased vocabulary by 50%, increased the amount of JLPT tags by 150%, added many phonetic radicals, and improved the arrow button functionality. It contained 210,641 words, 805 phonetic radicals, 278 meaning radicals, 6,368 kanji, 246,737 sample sentences and 9,756 JLPT tags, partly obtained from JMDict, KANJIDIC, Tatoeba, Ishizawa-sensei's blog, and my own memory. Radical's new version on Google Play will soon be updated to contain features such as tracking kanji & radical acquisition progress, customizable tests, and study plans by JLPT level.

*Version 7 [released Apr 27, 2025] improved the desktop and mobile display and added the functionality to see sample sentences. It contained 148,352 words, 584 phonetic radicals, 279 meaning radicals, 6,368 kanji and 246,737 sample sentences, partly obtained from the JMDict, the KANJIDIC and the Tatoeba Projects. Radical, the Google Play app, is now out.

*Version 6 [released Apr 13, 2025] is now a full fledged dictionary where you can look up words in English and in Japanese, including in hiragana and in English. It contained 148,352 words, 380 phonetic radicals, 279 meaning radicals and 6,368 kanji, partly obtained from the JMDict and the KANJIDIC Projects. Radical, the Google Play app, is now out.

*Version 5 [released Jan 18, 2025] added the hiragana and English search functions. It contained 17,608 words, 380 phonetic radicals, 279 meaning radicals and 6,368 kanji, partly obtained from the JMDict and the KANJIDIC Projects.

*Version 4 [released Jan 11, 2025] contained 380 phonetic radicals, 279 meaning radicals and 6,368 kanji.

*Version 3 [released Jan 3, 2025] added all common use kanji [常用漢字], added meaning radicals, JLPT level classification and contained 377 phonetic radicals, 225 meaning radicals and 2,484 kanji.

*Version 2 [released Dec 27, 2024] added double-reading phonetic radicals and contained 375 phonetic radicals and 1,402 kanji.

*Version 1.5 [released Dec 10, 4] added the Quiz and the "Random Kanji" functionalities, improved the mobile display and contained a set of 368 radicals and 1,300 kanji.

*Version 1.0 [released Oct 18, 2024] included a set of 279 radicals and 1,148 kanji.

Made by Carlos Ramos Fuentes, teacher of Japanese at CarlosCoordinator.com. You can contact me via email here.