Does anyone know how accurate the Kanji Definitions on this site are? When trying to find the definition of a Kanji like [“希”](https://jisho.org/search/%E5%B8%8C%20%23kanji) on Jisho, it lists “Hope” as being a possible meaning (I know 希望 means hope, but Jisho attributes this meaning to 希 by itself, too), [However this meaning is nowhere to be found on Jpdb’s page](https://jpdb.io/search?q=%E5%B8%8C&lang=english#a).
[They both seem to agree on “rare” being a possible meaning](https://jisho.org/search/%E5%B8%8C), however Jpdb seems to focus more on elusive uses of the Kanji, and readings that are Translated as “Names” (Those names probably mean something, but it doesn’t specify), while Jisho focuses more on Vocab that uses the Kanji.
I hear Jisho being referenced quite a bit on here, so I take it that it’s reliable, however I have found myself leaning toward Jpdb since simply receiving an Info-Dump of all the possible meanings and readings of a Kanji without actually knowing which are more common or applicable was beginning to become overwhelming (That, and Jpdb has a Pitch Accent Feature)
So for those with more experience, is the Jpdb Dictionary a reliable source for learning Vocab? Even some of Jpdb’s most “obscure” Kanji readings still seem to appear when I type them in the Japanese Keyboard, so I’m assuming that the results must at least be *partially* true, but I’m not advanced enough to know how reliable it is, and their admitted use of AI for certain parts of the website only amplifies the ambiguity.
Another note: 呂 is listed as “spine; backbone” on Jisho, but this definition is nowhere to be found on jpdb. I have heard that it originally meant “spine” centuries ago, but changed with the passage of time, however I do not know how true that is.
Thank You!
by Throwaway12r5b
7 comments
I use jpdb. The kanji definitions are okay, but I don’t subscribe to the notion that Kanji have an official, specific/reliable meaning to begin with. So I don’t study someone else’s kanji terms (I have it turned off, but you can also overwrite the meanings on jpdb)
In my opinion, every time you see a new kanji, you should look at the most common 5-10 words that use the kanji, and then make your own definition for what you think the kanji most accurately means.
For cases like this, where an individual kanji alone does not correlate directly with a Japanese word, the search for the “meaning” of the kanji in a Japanese context is more an interpretive one. However, I still have the same curiosity, and usually check sites like [Wiktionary](https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E5%B8%8C) to find at least some useful information, typically from a Chinese context. From my reading of that page, it appears that the “rare” meaning of 希 refers to the simplification of 稀 to 希, not the original meaning of 希 itself, which appears to be “hope”.
Personally, my time spent looking into these cases is just for my curiosity, and not for improving my Japanese, as I’m not sure it does that. But I do find it fun and informative, especially the bits on the Wiktionary page that say which part of the kanji is semantic and which part is phonetic. The illustrations of historic Chinese writings of the kanji are really fun too. (aside: there is a museum in my city with a huge collection of ancient Chinese text, on scrolls and bronze boxes and all that stuff, and it is awesome)
If the discrepancies of the definitions between jpdb and jisho are what interest you, I suggest you investigate the dictionaries Jisho uses, and read up on how jpdb selects their kanji definitions.
^(edited for clarity)
JPDB fan here.
JPDB’s creator has chosen their own keywords for many kanji and components in order to make learning through mnemonics easier. The site is intended to be a one-stop-shop for learning vocabulary and kanji together, so it’s designed with that purpose in mind. I’ve definitely seen many kanji which either use the obscure meaning to help differentiate it, or just kind of made something up to assist mnemonics.
https://jpdb.io/faq#KanjiKeywords
Also, as far as I can tell, the “meaning” is irrelevant to being able to understand Japanese aside from initially helping to remember the kanji. When I see 授業 I don’t go “ah yes this is to award business, and to award is made up of a hand radical and a receiving component and blah blah, so it means a lesson”, I just read it.
The actual information about readings, frequencies, vocabulary, etc… as far as I know are accurate.
Echoing what people have already written, but don’t worry too much about getting the right meaning for a kanji, just finding one that helps you initially remember/distinguish the kanji from others.
The [goal of kanji study](https://get.nihongonoashiba.com/blog/why-study-kanji/) is to help you read / learn Japanese faster, so don’t lose sight of that goal. Otherwise kanji study will be soul crushing and a drag.
FYI, Jisho includes “Remember the Kanji” keywords for kanji, often the very first word. For example:
希 – hope, beg, request, pray, beseech, Greece, dilute (acid), rare, few, phenomenal
望 – ambition, full moon, hope, desire, aspire to, expect
RTK keywords are “hope” and “ambition”. On jpdb, keywords are “dilute” and “hope”. On WaniKani, they are “wish” and “hope”.
RTK keywords are often less than ideal, as pointed out here:
[https://jpdb.io/faq#KanjiKeywords](https://jpdb.io/faq#KanjiKeywords)
In this case, 希 does not mean “hope” or “wish”, and it’s only assigned those keywords because of 希望. Jpdb’s “dilute” is better for other vocabulary. Arguably, “rare” would have been even better, but jpdb already uses “rare” for 稀.
Because keywords have to be unique, since RTK uses “hope” for 希, it can’t use it for 望, and it ends up as a meh “ambition”.
As for 呂, it is was originally a [pictogram of two vertebrae](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E5%91%82#Glyph_origin), but no longer carries that meaning. Both jpdb and WaniKani use the keyword “bathtub” because of 風呂. Otherwise, you’re trying to puzzle out why “wind” + “spine” = “bath”.
Note that 呂 is really only used for the “ro” sound and is the origin of the hiragana ろ and katakana ロ.
JPDB follows the RTK approach of assigning one single identity keyword to each kanji. Most of the time the keyword has something to do with the kanji’s meaning. But the problem is that multiple hieroglyphs can represent the same concept to the point where the same word can be written with two or more different kanji, e.g. 温かい vs. 暖かい. Or sometimes even worse, the meaning can slightly differ, like the infamous つとめる. So JPDB\RTK keywords always have to account for all those possible confusions and you need to be aware that the keyword you’re learning may only be a hint to the real use of that kanji.
Jpdb or koohii which site is better for learning kanji