Graphic Simplification of Chinese Characters in China and Japan: A Comparative Analysis Based on the Jōyō Kanji List

The article presents a comparative analysis of kanji from the 2010 edition of the Japanese jōyō kanjihyō (常用漢字表, “List of Commonly Used Characters”) that were modified during Japan’s script simplification reform and the simplified characters of modern Standard Chinese (Putonghua). The study focuses on the simplified forms of characters, examining similarities and differences in their modern graphical structures in both languages. Through the identification of shared and divergent graphemes, the author proposes a classification of characters grouped by common principles of simplification in comparison with their Chinese equivalents. A distinctive feature of this analysis is the systematic comparison of kanji with their Chinese counterparts, rather than treating them in isolation. The research conducts a comparative typology of Japanese and Chinese characters, categorizing kanji into seven groups based on their correlation with simplified Chinese forms. The analysis reveals that approximately 4% of simplified Chinese characters are identical in form to their Japanese counterparts, indicating a limited yet notable influence of Japanese script reform on Chinese. Out of 2136 characters in the Japanese list, 360 were simplified, with only 90 matching Chinese simplified forms—amounting to 4.21%. Most Japanese simplifications differ from the Chinese or were developed independently. The Chinese reform was more comprehensive, affecting even radical components, whereas Japanese simplifications typically retained traditional radicals. Despite the graphical reductions, both writing systems preserved semantic recognizability, reinforcing the concept of the character as a bearer of meaning rather than mere form. This finding opens new avenues for exploring the cognitive perception of characters among native users of Chinese and Japanese.

Character, Kanji, Grapheme, Phonetic component, Script simplification, Logographic writing, Official character list, Script reform(s), Traditional characters, Simplified characters