new
Came from Chinese. It usually shows up when the kanji is joined to another, forming a compound word.
It is Japanese. It usually shows up when the kanji stands alone or is followed by hiragana.
The order matters: it is what makes handwriting come out legible, and it is how dictionaries index the character.
Visual decomposition, for recognising and comparing — not always the character's origin.
Where it appears is highlighted — the translation doesn't always make that visible.
少し先の屋台では、新米を売っていました。
Sukoshi saki no yatai de wa, shinmai wo utte imashita.
Further ahead, a stall was selling new rice.
その夜、ルーカスは新しい言葉をノートに書きました。
Sono yoru, Rūkasu wa atarashii kotoba o nooto ni kakimashita.
That night, Lucas wrote the new words in his notebook.
台の上には、新鮮な松茸が置いてありました。
Dai no ue ni wa, shinsen na matsutake ga oite arimashita.
On the counter sat a package of fresh matsutake.
Readings and meanings: KANJIDIC2 · Decomposition: KRADFILE · Both from Electronic Dictionary Research and Development Group, CC BY-SA 4.0 · data from 2026-10-22 · Strokes: KanjiVG, Ulrich Apel, CC BY-SA 3.0