This random kanji generator includes all 2,136 kanji on Japan’s official list of jōyō kanji.
This tool was inspired by a Reddit discussion titled, “This is weird, but is there like a Kanji randomizer website?” In it, one user asked for a website that could randomly generate kanji.
Instead of a direct solution, other commenters only suggested workarounds—like picking kanji from newspapers or using kanji-learning apps.
The question was posted back in 2020, but better late than never. To fill the gap, I decided to create a random kanji generator myself.
Random Kanji Generator
This random kanji picker includes all the kanjis in Japan’s official list of standard-use kanjis. It can be used as a random kanji quiz, a learning tool, or for any other purpose. All results include correct spelling and meaning of the kanji, but if you really want to test yourself, you can toggle the visibility of these explanations.
Click the button below to get your random kanji! Note that the randomizer may take a while before it starts working on mobile devices.
Random Joyo Kanji Generator
このランダム漢字ジェネレーターには、文部科学省の常用漢字表に載っているすべての漢字が含まれています。合計で2,136字あります。
How Many Kanjis Are There?
This randomizer includes all 2,136 kanjis currently listed on the Jōyō kanji hyō, the standardised list of kanjis maintained by the Japanese Ministry of Education. The list was last updated in 2010.
In total, there are over 50,000 kanjis, although many only appear in historical documents and are not used in modern Japanese. This randomizer only includes the modern, simplified forms of kanji characters (Shinjitai).
Personally, I must admit that I only know a handful of kanjis. I took one course years ago. Interestingly, I still recognize the ones that I’ve memorized with visual mnemonics, like a growing plant in 上 (“up”) and a mountain range in 山 (“mountain”).
What connects traveling and randomness? In my case, it started with random destinations. In 2016, I picked a completely random place anywhere in the world. After one very long detour, I finally arrived at my random destination—Nairobi, Kenya—in March 2018.
This website was originally about that 2-year journey. Once I reached my random destination, I decided to create a few random destination generators for others to enjoy as well.
In the years since, those few generators have turned into over 100 randomizers covering all sorts of topics. For example, I’ve made generators for random emojis and random video games. You can find all the randomizers on the Random Generators page.