kokuji

thumb|The kanji for Tasuki (sash)|tasuki, a kokuji, with [[furigana above.]] In Japanese, or are kanji created in Japan rather than borrowed from China. Like most Chinese characters, they are primarily formed by combining existing characters—though using combinations that are not used in Chinese.

Since kokuji are generally devised for existing native words, they usually only have native kun readings. However, they occasionally also have a Chinese on reading derived from a related kanji, such as (dō, 'work'), which takes its on pronunciation from (dō, 'move'). In rare cases, a kokuji may only have an on reading, such as (sen, 'gland'), which was derived from (sen, 'spring, fountain') for use in medical terminology.