Old ⇔ New Kanji (Kyujitai) Converter

Convert between traditional (kyujitai) and modern (shinjitai) Japanese kanji instantly.
350+ character pairs. Fully offline — no data sent to any server.

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Bidirectional

Old→New and New→Old conversion

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Variant Dictionary

350+ old/new kanji pairs

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Fully Offline

No external communication

Fully Offline — Text data never leaves your browser

📦 Pairs: 350+ Characters: 0 Converted: 0

Input Text

Try:

Result (Converted characters highlighted in orange)

about,

About

The "Old ⇔ New Kanji (Kyujitai) Converter" is a text processing tool that converts between traditional (kyujitai / 旧字体) and modern (shinjitai / 新字体) Japanese kanji forms, and displays the correspondence of variant characters (itaiji).

All conversion is handled by a JavaScript lookup table — no external APIs or server communication required. Your text never leaves your browser.

Conversion happens in real-time, with converted characters highlighted in orange. The "Dictionary" panel lets you browse all 350+ old/new kanji pairs and filter by keyword.

Note: Context-dependent conversion (where one old form maps to multiple new forms) is not supported. Please verify results manually.

how to,

How to Use

STEP 1

Enter Text

Type or paste the text you want to convert into the left input box. Conversion happens in real-time as you type.

STEP 2

Choose Direction

Toggle between "Modern → Traditional" or "Traditional → Modern". Results update instantly on toggle.

STEP 3

Copy Result

Review the result on the right — converted characters are highlighted. Click "Copy" to copy to clipboard.

glossary,

Glossary

Kyujitai (旧字体) — Traditional Form: Kanji forms used before 1946, generally more complex and with more strokes. Also called "prewar characters." Example: 惡 (old form of 悪 "evil"), 國 (old form of 国 "country").
Shinjitai (新字体) — Modern Form: Simplified kanji adopted in the 1946 Toyo Kanji list and modern Joyo Kanji. Fewer strokes, easier to write. Used in modern textbooks, official documents, and newspapers.
Itaiji (異体字) — Variant Characters: Characters with the same meaning and reading but different forms. Distinct from the kyujitai/shinjitai relationship. Common in personal names and place names. Example: 高 and 髙 (hashigo-daka).
On-reading (音読み) and Kun-reading (訓読み): On-readings are kanji pronunciations derived from Chinese, while kun-readings are native Japanese pronunciations. Most kanji have both types of readings.
Joyo Kanji (常用漢字): The 2,136 kanji designated by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs as the standard set for general use. Includes the modern (shinjitai) forms used in education, media, and official documents.

faq,

FAQ

Q.Is my text sent to an external server?: No. The conversion table is hardcoded in JavaScript. All conversion is done locally in your browser with no network communication whatsoever.
Q.There is a traditional kanji form I can't convert.: The dictionary focuses on Joyo and Jinmeiyo kanji old forms, but does not cover every possible traditional character. Characters without a matching entry are passed through unchanged. Please verify results manually.
Q.What happens when the same old-form kanji maps to multiple modern forms?: Context-dependent conversion is not supported. Only one-to-one mappings are applied; we recommend verifying the output after conversion.
Q.A traditional character shows as □ (tofu box).: This means the kanji's font is not installed on your device. On a PC, installing a multi-kanji font such as "Noto Serif JP" or "Source Han Serif" may resolve the display issue.
Q.Can I convert name-specific old kanji like hashigo-daka (髙)?: The main name variant characters like "髙" (hashigo-daka) can be looked up in the dictionary panel. However, they may not be included in automatic conversion of input text.