Australia and the World Past and Present

Here is a list of obscure Japanese nouns. They are words from the highest level of the Japan Kanji Aptitude Test (日本漢字能力検定, Nihon Kanji Nōryoku Kentei) – level 1. It is by no means an exhaustive list.

1. 焏 – shibashiba – often
2. 仗 – tsuwamono – soldier
3. 僉 – mina – all, everyone
4. 櫃 – hitsu – chest, coffer, rice tub, lidded round wooden container for cooked rice
5. 卅 – miso – 30
6. 卮 – sakazuki – wine cup. Other rare forms include: 盃, 巵, 盞, 觚, 觴, 酒盃
7. 傁 – okina – old man
8. 叺 – kamasu – straw bag
9. 吝 – kechi – miserly, stingy
10. 咎 – toga – blame, censure, reprimand
11. 嗽 – ugai – gargle
12. 囮 – otori – a decoy
13. 坩 – tsubo – a jar
14. 堊 – shirotsuchi – a white wall
15. 塋 – haka – a cemetary
16. 塒 – negura – a roost, a nest , hen coop
17. 壍 – hori – moat around a city, canal
18. 妁 – nakoudo – a go-between
19. 媚 – kobi – flattery
20. 媼 – ouna – an old woman
21. 媾 – yoshimi – friendship
22. 孀 – yamome – a widower
23. 孰 – izure – which, how
24. 蘖 – hikobae – a sprout
25. 官 – tsukasa – a government office
26. 屓 – hiiki – favour – favouritism
27. 屶 – nata – hatchet
28. 幟 – nobori – banner, streamer
29. 厠 – kawaya – lavatory
30. 廂 – hisashi – eaves, visor
31. 厦 – ie – house
32. 廨 – yakusho – public office
33. 廛 – yashiki – fine house / mise – a shop
34. 廬 – iori – a hermitage
35. 悃 – magokoro – sincerity
36. 慥か – tashika – sure, certain
37. 憚り – habakari – hesitation
38. 戉 – masakari – warrior, arms, savage, Ainu
39. 掟 – okite – law, regulation, rule
40. 栞 – shiori – a bookmark
41. 旱 – hideri – drought
42. 昴 – subaru – Chinese “Hairy Head” constellation, Pleiades
43. 暈 – kasa – halo ring
44. 暈し – bokashi – blurring (e.g. of an image), blur, shading
45. ​朧 – oboro – hazy, dim, vague
46. 朮 – okera – a type of millet
47. 天秤棒 – tenbinbou – a carrying pole, a shoulder pole
48. 杠秤 – chigi / chigiri – a weighbeam
49. 杣 – soma – timber, lumber, woodcutter
50. 杼 – hi – shuttle (of a loom)
51. 柩 – hitsugi – coffin
52. 柝 – hyoushigi – wooden clappers
53. 柎 – utena – a raft
54. 框 – kamachi – a doorframe
55. 磔 – haritsuke – crucifixion
56. 棟木 – munagi – a ridgepole
57. 梺 – fumoto – the base of a mountain
58. 棘 – ibara – thorn
59. 楹 – hashira – a post, a pillar
60. 楔 – kusabi – a wedge
61. 双六 – sugoroku – a game of dice
62. 槃 – tarai – a tub
63. 撥ね釣瓶 – hanetsurube – water bucket suspended from a weighted rod
64. 棥 – magaki – a roughly-woven fence
65. 樸 – kiji – the bark of a tree
66. 檻 – ori – a cage
67. 毬 – mari – a ball
68. 毳 – mukuge – shaggy hair
69. 氈 – mousen – carpet, rug
70. 氓 – tami – the people
71. 湍 – hayase – rapids
72. 圂 – kawaya – lavatory – pig-sty
73. 澪 – mio – waterway, channel
74. 炷 – toushin – wick
75. 炷 – tomoshibi – light
76. 炬 – taimatsu – a torch
77. 炬 – kagaribi – a bonfire
78. 烽 – noroshi – signal fire
79. 焭 – hitorimono – unmarried person
80. 熨 – hinoshi – an iron
81. 燹 – nobi – grass fire
82. 兵火 – heika – a fire caused by war
83. 爛れ – tadare – sore, inflammation, ulceration
84. 爨 – kamado – cooking stove
85. 犢 – koushi – calf
86. 犲 – yamainu – wild dog
87. 狆 – chin – Japanese Spaniel
88. 狒 – hihi – baboon
89. 飇 – tsumujikaze – whirlwind
90. 瑟 – oogoto – a large koto
91. 鎖 – kusari – chain
92. 柄杓 – hishaku – a ladle
93. 瓣 – hanabira – petal
94. 甃 – ishidatami – floor tile
95. 甍 – iraka – roof tile, tiled roof
96. 畛 – aze – ridge between the fields
97. 畬 – arata – reclaimed field
98. 疝気 – senki – colic
99. 疣 – ibo – a wart
100. 痺れ – shibire – numbness, pins and needles