Kanji Study

Bushu (Radical) Info:
人 (ひと) – person
化 (カ, ケ, ば.ける, ば.かす, ふ.ける, け.する) – change; take the form of; influence; enchant; delude; -ization
个 (カ , コ, こ, ひ) – counter for articles; individual

Henshall Mnemonic: person with saw about to make something

Levels: JLPT N4 | JLPT 3 (old) | Grade 2
Frequency: #103 of the 2500 most used kanji in newspapers

Common Words and/or Phrases Using this Kanji:

Click any individual kanji to view a similar information sheet for it.
Click [K] to look up the word's individual character(s) at WWWJDIC.
Click [D] to look up the word at WWWJDIC (definition is the same but other useful features exist).
Click [Jisho] to look up the word at Jisho.org.

JLPT N5 Words

• 作る   [つくる]
  (v5r) to make; to create; to manufacture; to draw up; to write; to compose; to build; to coin; to cultivate; to organize; to establish; to make up (a face); to trim (a tree); to fabricate; to prepare (food); to commit (sin); to construct   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 作文   [さくぶん]
  (n) composition; writing   [K] [D] [Jisho]

JLPT N3 Words

• 操作   [そうさ]
  (n,vs) operation; management; processing   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 作家   [さっか]
  (n) author; writer; novelist; artist   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 作業   [さぎょう]
  (n) work; operation; manufacturing; fatigue duty   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 作曲   [さっきょく]
  (n,vs) composition; setting (of music)   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 作品   [さくひん]
  (n) work; opus; performance; production   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 作物   [さくもつ]
  (n) produce (e.g. agricultural); crops   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 作法   [さほう]
  (n) manners; etiquette; propriety   [K] [D] [Jisho]

JLPT N2 Words

• 制作   [せいさく]
  (n,vs) work (film, book)   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 創作   [そうさく]
  (n) production; literary creation; work   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 動作   [どうさ]
  (n) action; movements; motions; bearing; behaviour; manners   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 名作   [めいさく]
  (n) masterpiece   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 製作   [せいさく]
  (n,vs) manufacture; production   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 傑作   [けっさく]
  (adj-na,n) masterpiece; best work; boner; blunder   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 作者   [さくしゃ]
  (n) author; authoress   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 作成   [さくせい]
  (n,vs) frame; draw up; make; producing; creating; preparing; writing   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 作製   [さくせい]
  (n,vs) manufacture   [K] [D] [Jisho]

JLPT N1 Words

• 工作   [こうさく]
  (n) work; construction; handicraft; maneuvering   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 原作   [げんさく]
  (n) original work   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 豊作   [ほうさく]
  (n) abundant harvest; bumper crop   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 発作   [ほっさ]
  (n) fit; spasm   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 作   [さく]
  (n,n-suf) a work; a harvest   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 作り   [つくり]
  (n) (1) construction; make-up; (2) sliced raw fish   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 凶作   [きょうさく]
  (n) bad harvest; poor crop   [K] [D] [Jisho]

Other Popular Words Not Classified by JLPT

• 秀作   [しゅうさく]
  (n) splendid (excellent) work   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 佳作   [かさく]
  (n) good piece of work   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 新作   [しんさく]
  (n) new work; new production   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 工作員   [こうさくいん]
  craftsman; handicraft worker   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 工作機械   [こうさくきかい]
  (n) machine tools   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 試作   [しさく]
  (n) trial manufacture; experiment   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 遺作   [いさく]
  (n) posthumous works   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 反作用   [はんさよう]
  (n) reaction   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 自作   [じさく]
  (n) one's own work   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 力作   [りきさく]
  (n) literary or artistic masterpiece (on which much labour was spent)   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 荷作り   [にづくり]
  (n,vs) packing; baling; crating   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 劇作   [げきさく]
  (n) play writing   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 無造作   [むぞうさ]
  (adj-na,n) easiness; simplicity   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 代表作   [だいひょうさく]
  (n) masterpiece; representative work   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 稲作   [いなさく]
  (n) rice crop   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 副作用   [ふくさよう]
  (n) reaction; secondary effect   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 合作   [がっさく]
  (n,vs) collaboration; joint work   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 三部作   [さんぶさく]
  (n) trilogy   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 不作   [ふさく]
  (n) poor crop; crop failure   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 製作費   [せいさくひ]
  (n) production cost   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 作り笑い   [つくりわらい]
  (n) forced laugh   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 作り上げる   [つくりあげる]
  (v1) to make up; to fabricate; to build up; to complete; to construct   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 作り話   [つくりばなし]
  (n) fiction; made-up story; fable; fabrication; myth   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 盗作   [とうさく]
  (n) plagiarism   [K] [D] [Jisho]
• 作況指数   [さっきょうしすう]
  rice-crop index   [K] [D] [Jisho]

Find more details for 作 at jisho.org, Yookoso! or WWWJDIC

Acknowledgments

The sofware used to generate this kanji information uses the EDICT and KANJIDIC files. These files are the property of the Electronic Dictionary Research and Development Group at Monash University and are used in conformance with the Group's license.

NOTE: I converted the sources just mentioned years ago and have never really updated so there may be some missing or incorrect information that has been addressed in the original sources but not here.

The first Stroke Order image used on this page is courtesy of Ulrich Apel's excellent open source KanjiVG project. The second image is from the folks at the excellent Jisho Japanese-English dictionary site and it too is based on KanjiVG.

Classifying the kanji and popular vocabulary by the new JLPT levels was done by consulting Jonathan Waller‘s JLPT Resources page, renshuu, Wictionary, and Nihongo Ichiban.

The Henshall Mnemonics are the copyright of Tuttle Publishing and are the result of the hard work by Professor Henshall. See the list I used here.

If you are curious about the lexicography shown in the word definitions, visit the WWWJDIC abbreviations and codes guide and the JMdict/Edict Lexicographical details page.