The vast majority of kanji used to write Japanese originated in China, but several hundred characters have been invented in Japan, include some that remain in common use.
Plant are particularly common in place names and surnames.
The earliest date back to the Nara Period, and a dictionary from the early Heian Period listed over four hundred. According to dictionaries, another meaning of is i j, meaning hiragana and katakana , though this meaning may no longer be current. This entry was created by Tom Gally.