Editing Kanji (section)

==Collation==
Kanji, whose thousands of symbols defy ordering by conventions such as those used for the [[Latin script]], are often [[collation|collated]] using the traditional Chinese [[radical-and-stroke sorting]] method. In this system, common components of characters are identified; these are called [[radical (Chinese character)|radicals]]. Characters are grouped by their primary radical, then ordered by number of pen strokes within radicals. For example, the kanji character {{Nihongo2|桜}}, meaning "cherry", is sorted as a ten-stroke character under the four-stroke primary radical {{lang|ja|木}} meaning "tree". When there is no obvious radical or more than one radical, convention governs which is used for collation.

Other kanji sorting methods, such as the [[Kodansha Kanji Learner's Dictionary#SKIP|SKIP]] system, have been devised by various authors.

Modern general-purpose [[Japanese dictionaries]] (as opposed to specifically character dictionaries) generally collate all entries, including words written using kanji, according to their {{translit|ja|[[kana]]}} representations (reflecting the way they are pronounced). The {{translit|ja|[[gojūon]]}} ordering of {{translit|ja|kana}} is normally used for this purpose.