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Kanji decoder
Signs you'll meet aren't in any deck — so learn the building blocks. Spot a shared part and you can decode a new sign on the spot.
A square open mouth — or an opening you walk through. Any 口 on a sign points to a way in or out.
Two mountains (山) stacked — climbing up and OUT. Pair with 口 and you get 出口, the exit.
A person bending to duck IN through a low doorway. With 口 it's 入口, the entrance.
Look down at a cart from above: a box axle with wheels. It rides inside 電車 (train).
A square paddy split into four plots by irrigation channels. It anchors 男 (man working the field) and the 番 in 番線.
A flexed arm pushing. Add it under a field 田 and you get 男 — the strength working the rice paddy.
A figure kneeling with arms crossed gracefully. Stands alone on the women's room, and hides under the roof of 案 (案内所, info desk).
Three falling droplets splashed on the left edge. It soaks the kanji for pour 注, wash 洗, sake 酒, and ready 準.
A tree: trunk, branches, roots. Doubled it becomes 林 (a wood) inside 禁 (forbidden); it also props up 札, 休, and 案.
A person with sparks flying off both arms — flame. It burns on the left of 煙 (smoke). No-smoking is 禁煙.
A drawing of a heart with its chambers. It sits at the bottom of 意 (mind) — 注意 means 'pour your heart in = caution'.
A person seen from the side, two legs walking. It stands on the left of rest 休, prepare 備, and attach 付.
A lid over a bowl of rice on a stand — a full meal. Whole in 食堂 (dining hall); squeezed to 飠 inside 館 (inn, 旅館).
A mound of metal nuggets under a roof. The metal radical 釒 rides on the left of 鉄 (iron → subway rails).
A tangled skein of silk thread. On a platform board it spins into 線, the track 'line' (番線).
A roof with a chimney dot — shelter. It caps 案 (info desk 案内所) and 定 (fixed → 定休日, regular closing day).
A box with a line: the sun with a sunspot. It marks the 'day' in 定休日 (closing day).
A box with a line speared dead through the center. On shop signs it means 'in progress': 営業中 (open), 準備中 (getting ready).