About

Why this project exists, and how we approach it.

Our purpose

Kanji Name Oracle is a small, free, browser-based tool that converts your name into authentic Japanese kanji and offers a traditional Seimei Handan (姓名判断) fortune reading. We built it because the existing English-language "kanji name generator" landscape has two problems: many tools produce sloppy or even inappropriate characters, and almost none of them treat the result as a cultural object worth explaining.

We wanted a tool that does the opposite — one that respects the boundaries of what auto-generation can honestly claim, and that tells you why a particular kanji was chosen.

Our commitment to Japanese cultural respect

Kanji are not decorations. Each character carries centuries of meaning, sound, and association. The infamous Ariana Grande "shichirin" (七輪 = Japanese BBQ grill) tattoo and countless similar stories on the long-running Hanzi Smatter blog make this point painfully: auto-translation without cultural grounding has consequences.

We approach this project as enthusiasts inviting curiosity, not as authoritative arbiters of Japanese naming. Our pledges:

• We restrict our character pool to the 2,999 Jinmeiyo kanji officially approved by the Japanese Ministry of Justice for personal names.
• We exclude legally prohibited and socially inappropriate characters with explicit blacklists, not just "best guesses".
• We screen for combinations that single-character checks would miss (七輪, 便所, 変態, etc.).
• We cross-check for kanji that reverse meaning in Chinese or Korean (娘 = "mother" in Mandarin) to prevent embarrassing surprises when you share your result with friends from other CJK regions.
• We show the meaning, reading, and a short cultural note for every suggested character.
• We will never claim that an auto-generated result is "your real Japanese name". It is a respectful approximation.

"Treat kanji the way you would treat a borrowed word from any other language: with curiosity, attention, and a willingness to be corrected by people who know more."

Editorial standards

• Source of character data — the Japanese Ministry of Justice Jinmeiyo Kanji list (法務省 戸籍法施行規則別表第二).
• Source of fortune framework — the Seimei Handan five-grid system (五格剖象法) developed by Kenou Kumasaki (熊崎健翁) in 1918, applied with stroke counts from authoritative kanji dictionaries.
• Update cadence — we monitor changes to the Jinmeiyo list (most recently updated 2017) and revise our data accordingly.
• Editorial voice — neutral, educational, never sensational. We do not predict the future; we explain a traditional cultural framework.

Who runs this

Kanji Name Oracle is operated by Kappy, an individual operator who maintains a small collection of free web tools focused on culture, language, and design. This is not a commercial venture in the traditional sense — the site is monetized through Google AdSense and Amazon Associates so that it can remain free for users, but no personal coaching, paid readings, or premium tiers are sold.

Revenue disclosure

• Google AdSense — advertisements appear in the result and FAQ areas of the home page.
• Amazon Associates — when we link to physical products (books on Japanese naming culture, calligraphy supplies, etc.), we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Such links are marked sponsored per FTC and EU disclosure standards.
• We do not sell, share, or otherwise transmit your name to any third party.

Contact

For corrections, cultural feedback, accessibility issues, or general questions, please reach us through our contact form. We particularly welcome corrections from native Japanese speakers and from members of the broader CJK community.