| 24 | A Guide To Reading and Writing Japanese (Florence Sakade) |
| 27 | A Guide To Reading and Writing Japanese 3rd edition (Henshall, Seeley and De Groot) |
| 36 | A Guide To Remembering Japanese Characters (Kenneth G. Henshall) |
| 63 | A New Dictionary of Kanji Usage |
| 1355 | Classic Nelson (Andrew Nelson) |
| 33 | Essential Kanji (P.G. O’Neill) |
| 46 | Japanese Kanji Flashcards (Max Hodges and Tomoko Okazaki) |
| 21 | Japanese Names (P.G. O’Neill) |
| 2.15 | Japanese for Busy People |
| 27 | Kanji and Kana (Spahn and Hadamitzky) |
| 27 | Kanji and Kana, 2nd Edition (Spahn and Hadamitzky) |
| 88 | Kanji in Context (Nishiguchi and Kono) |
| 511 | Kodansha Compact Kanji Guide |
| 7 | Kodansha Kanji Dictionary (Jack Halpern) |
| 2 | Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary (Jack Halpern) |
| 2 | Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary, 2nd Edition (Jack Halpern) |
| 106 | Les Kanjis dans la tete (Yves Maniette) |
| 7473 | Morohashi |
| 7 | New Japanese English Character Dictionary (Jack Halpern) |
| 1389 | New Nelson (John Haig) |
| 105 | Remembering The Kanji (James Heisig) |
| 110 | Remembering The Kanji, 6th edition (James Heisig) |
| 126 | The Kanji Way to Japanese Language Power (Dale Crowley) |
| 15 | Tuttle Kanji Cards (Alexander Kask) |
小
Jōyō kanji, taught in grade 1
JLPT level N5
114 of 2500 most used kanji in newspapers
Stroke order
On reading compounds
- 小 【ショウ】 smallness, small item, short month (i.e. having fewer than 31 days), elementary school, smaller (of two things, places, etc. with the same name), inferior, younger (of two people with the same name), junior, unit of field area (approx. 400 sq m)
- 小雨 【コサメ】 light rain, drizzle
- 微小 【ビショウ】 microscopic
- 中小 【チュウショウ】 small and medium
Kun reading compounds
- 小さい 【ちいさい】 small, little, tiny, slight, below average (in degree, amount, etc.), minor, small, low (e.g. sound), soft (e.g. voice), unimportant, petty, insignificant, trifling, trivial, young, juvenile
- 小さい頃 【ちいさいころ】 as a child, when one was a child
Readings
- Japanese names:
- いさら、 こう、 さざ、 しゃお、 ちいさ
- Korean:
- so
Spanish
- poco
- pequeño
Portuguese
- Pequeno
- pouco
French
- petit
| 1141 | 2001 Kanji |
| 3n0.1 | The Kanji Dictionary |
| 1-1-2 | SKIP code |
| 9000.0 | Four corner code |
| 1-30-14 | JIS X 0208-1997 kuten code |
| 5c0f | Unicode hex code |
use, send on a mission, order, messenger, envoy, ambassador, cause
Jōyō kanji, taught in grade 3
JLPT level N4
219 of 2500 most used kanji in newspapers
Stroke order
On reading compounds
- 使 【シ】 messenger, police and judicial chief (Heian and Kamakura periods), klesha (polluting thoughts such as greed, hatred and delusion, which result in suffering)
- 使者 【シシャ】 messenger, envoy, emissary
- 特使 【トクシ】 special envoy
- 実力行使 【ジツリョクコウシ】 use of force
Kun reading compounds
- 使う 【つかう】 to use (a tool, method, etc.), to make use of, to put to use, to use (a person, animal, puppet, etc.), to employ, to handle, to manage, to manipulate, to use (time, money, etc.), to spend, to consume, to use (language), to speak
- 使い 【つかい】 errand, mission, going on an errand, messenger, bearer, errand boy, errand girl, familiar spirit, use, usage, user, trainer, tamer, handler, charmer
- 使い方 【つかいかた】 way of using (something), way to use, how to use, usage, use, way of handling (employees, subordinates, etc.), way of treating, treatment, management
- オズの魔法使い 【オズのまほうつかい】 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (novel by L. F. Baum, 1900), The Wizard of Oz (film, 1939)
- 春の使い 【はるのつかい】 Japanese bush warbler, messenger of spring
Readings
- Korean:
- sa
Spanish
- usar
- manejar
- emplear
Portuguese
- Uso
- usar
French
- utiliser
| 224 | A Guide To Reading and Writing Japanese (Florence Sakade) |
| 303 | A Guide To Reading and Writing Japanese 3rd edition (Henshall, Seeley and De Groot) |
| 287 | A Guide To Remembering Japanese Characters (Kenneth G. Henshall) |
| 226 | A New Dictionary of Kanji Usage |
| 432 | Classic Nelson (Andrew Nelson) |
| 210 | Essential Kanji (P.G. O’Neill) |
| 117 | Japanese Kanji Flashcards (Max Hodges and Tomoko Okazaki) |
| 556 | Japanese Names (P.G. O’Neill) |
| 2.3 | Japanese for Busy People |
| 331 | Kanji and Kana (Spahn and Hadamitzky) |
| 331 | Kanji and Kana, 2nd Edition (Spahn and Hadamitzky) |
| 199 | Kanji in Context (Nishiguchi and Kono) |
| 89 | Kodansha Compact Kanji Guide |
| 100 | Kodansha Kanji Dictionary (Jack Halpern) |
| 68 | Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary (Jack Halpern) |
| 72 | Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary, 2nd Edition (Jack Halpern) |
| 999 | Les Kanjis dans la tete (Yves Maniette) |
| 573 | Morohashi |
| 90 | New Japanese English Character Dictionary (Jack Halpern) |
| 196 | New Nelson (John Haig) |
| 990 | Remembering The Kanji (James Heisig) |
| 1065 | Remembering The Kanji, 6th edition (James Heisig) |
| 239 | The Kanji Way to Japanese Language Power (Dale Crowley) |
| 298 | Tuttle Kanji Cards (Alexander Kask) |
| 2166 | 2001 Kanji |
| 2a6.2 | The Kanji Dictionary |
| 1-2-6 | SKIP code |
| 2520.6 | Four corner code |
| 1-27-40 | JIS X 0208-1997 kuten code |
| 4f7f | Unicode hex code |