The most complex Japanese kanji: how many strokes it has
The most complex Japanese kanji from the everyday list is 鬱 (29 strokes, 'melancholy, gloom'), followed by 鑑 (23 strokes) and 驚 (22, 'to be surprised'). Among rare characters there is 龘 (48 strokes) and the legendary 「たいと」 with 84 strokes, but they are practically not used in the language. The most complex from school kanji are 議, 競 and 護, 20 strokes each.
The pursuit of the 'most complex kanji' leads to a cabinet of curiosities: characters with 50 and 80 strokes exist in dictionaries, but even Japanese people don't write them. The practical answer is different — the hardest characters for a beginner are not the ones with the most strokes, but the ones that look most similar to each other.
Record holders by number of strokes
| Character | Strokes | Meaning | Is it used? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 驚 | 22 | to be surprised | yes, in ordinary texts |
| 議 | 20 | discussion, council | yes, in news |
| 警 | 19 | to warn | yes, 警察 police |
| 曜 | 18 | day of the week | yes, every day |
| 籠 | 22 | basket, cage | sometimes |
| 龘 | 48 | dragon flight | practically no |
| たいと | 84 | legendary family character | no |
Why '84 strokes' is not entirely true
The character 「たいと」 with 84 strokes is known as a curiosity: it is cited as a family name, but there are no confirmed bearers, and it is not included in standard font sets. It is more of a typographic legend than a part of the language.
What is actually difficult for a beginner
- Similar pairs: 未 and 末, 土 and 士, 力 and 刀, 人 and 入 — the difference is in one stroke or its length.
- Characters with multiple readings: 生 (to live, raw, student), 日 (sun, day, date) — it's not the form that confuses, but the choice of reading.
- Characters that are rarely written but often recognized: everyone knows 曜 from 曜日, but not everyone can write it by hand.
- Characters with many strokes are actually easier: they have more memory hooks than 二 and 三.
Average number of strokes
Characters from the everyday list have an average of 10–11 strokes (the median is exactly 10). Anything over 20 is rare: there are eleven such characters in the jōyō list, and the record-holder among them is 鬱 (29 strokes). So the fear of 'what if I encounter a character with fifty strokes' is not justified in practice.
Try writing a complex character
驚 — 22 strokes. Trace along the guides and see how it comes together.
FAQ
- What is the most complex Japanese kanji?
- From the everyday list — 鬱 (29 strokes, 'gloom'): this is the record among jōyō. Next are 鑑 (23) and 驚 (22). Among rare ones there is 龘 (48 strokes) and the legendary character with 84 strokes, but they are not used in living language.
- Is it true that there is a kanji with 84 strokes?
- It is described as a family-name curiosity 「たいと」, but there are no confirmed bearers, and it is not included in standard fonts. It is more of a legend.
- Which characters are hardest to remember?
- Not the ones with many strokes, but similar ones: 未/末, 土/士, 力/刀, 人/入. And characters with multiple readings — 生, 日: the difficulty is in choosing the reading, not the form.
- What is the average number of strokes in a kanji?
- 10–11 for characters from the everyday list, the median is 10. There are only eleven characters with more than 20 strokes in it, the one with the most strokes is 鬱 (29).
Updated: 2026-07-25