1.
Japanese-made kanji; kokuji
Kanji characters that were created in Japan rather than imported from China. Also called 国字 (kokuji). Examples include 峠 (mountain pass), 畑 (field), and 込 (to include).
Japanese-made characters were created to reflect Japan's natural environment and culture.
2.
Japanese writing; kana characters
In a broader sense, refers to Japanese writing systems (hiragana and katakana) as distinguished from Chinese characters (漢字).
Composed of 和 (Japan/Japanese) and 字 (character/writing). The word has two main uses depending on context.
In sense 1 (Japanese-made kanji), well-known examples include:
- 峠: mountain pass (mountain + up + down)
- 畑: dry field (fire + field)
- 込む: to be crowded (movement + enter)
- 辻: crossroads
- 躾: discipline/training