{"id":61787,"date":"2026-03-04T21:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=61787"},"modified":"2026-03-04T19:01:35","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T10:01:35","slug":"the-total-number-of-pokemon-has-officially-surpassed-the-number-of-kanji-japanese-kids-have-to-learn-in-elementary-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/the-total-number-of-pokemon-has-officially-surpassed-the-number-of-kanji-japanese-kids-have-to-learn-in-elementary-school\/","title":{"rendered":"The total number of Pok\u00e9mon has officially surpassed the number of kanji Japanese kids have to learn in elementary school"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Game Freak celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Pok\u00e9mon franchise by announcing Pok\u00e9mon <strong>Winds and Waves<\/strong>, the long-awaited new mainline entry in the RPG series. As per tradition, Winds and Waves will introduce the 10th generation of Pok\u00e9mon to the National Pok\u00e9dex, and the three new starters have already been revealed. New trainers will be able to pick among the grass-type Browt, the fire-type Pombon and the water-type Gecqua.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"First Look: Pok\u00e9mon Winds and Pok\u00e9mon Waves | Announcement Trailer\" width=\"1160\" height=\"653\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/38XHXMdDegg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>With the addition of Generation 10, the National Pok\u00e9dex will expand way beyond its current number of registered Pok\u00e9mon, which currently sits at 1,025. And if we count the three new creatures, the (unofficial) number of existing Pok\u00e9mon at the time of writing will be exactly 1,028. Interestingly, some Japanese X users pointing out that, now that Generation 10 is in sight, the number of Pok\u00e9mon has finally surpassed the number of kanji which Japanese kids learn to read and write in elementary school \u2013 which is exactly 1,026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"ja\" dir=\"ltr\">\u30dd\u30b1\u30e2\u30f3\u306e\u7a2e\u985e(1028)\u304c\u3001\u5c0f\u5b66\u6821\u3067\u7fd2\u3046\u6559\u80b2\u6f22\u5b57(1026)\u3092\u4e0a\u56de\u308a\u307e\u3057\u305f<\/p>&mdash; \u5148\u305b\u3044\u306e\u30b4\u30c4\u30e1 (@sensei_to_met) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/sensei_to_met\/status\/2028413285171917040?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 2, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>To give a brief explanation, the 1,026 \u201cky\u014diku kanji\u201d (education kanji) are a set of characters Japanese kids are required to learn from first through sixth grade of elementary school, as determined by MEXT. The 1,026 kanji are a part of the j\u014dy\u014d (regular use) kanji list, which has a total of 2,136 characters and compiles the most commonly used kanji in Japanese. The remaining 1,110 kanji are taught from the first to third grade of middle school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since Pok\u00e9mon has always been popular among Japanese kids (<a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/new-top-100-ranking-of-japanese-peoples-favorite-games-dominated-by-domestic-classics-like-mario-and-pokemon-except-for-the-number-one-spot\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Scarlet and Violet ranks quite high among Japanese teenagers<\/a>), the funny coincidence now has the potential to be turned into another \u201cgotcha\u201d by parents trying to force their children to learn the stroke orders and meanings of all 1,026 kanji. \u201cWe just got one more way for nagging parents to lecture their kids. Something along the lines of: <em>You can memorize all Pok\u00e9mon yet you say you don\u2019t understand kanji? Unbelievable,<\/em>\u201d one user <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/YukaritoYui\/status\/2028549806390640715?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">joked<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some would argue that Pok\u00e9mon are easier to remember than kanji because kanji have meanings, multiple readings and stroke orders, but they forget that remembering all the Pok\u00e9mon is <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Awed_Urshy\/status\/2028602602599141435?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">equally as challenging<\/a>, other users suggest. \u201cDon\u2019t forget that it\u2019s not just the Pok\u00e9mon\u2019s names, but also types and abilities. [\u2026] My daughter remembers all the names and the types.\u201d Some netizens even argued that, with the expansion of the Pok\u00e9dex, you could help your kids learn kanji by <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/narenohatex\/status\/2028637256010055851?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">likening them to Pok\u00e9mon<\/a>. \u201cIf Pokemon names were written in kanji, the kids\u2019 kanji ability would probably skyrocket. Why is it so difficult for kids to remember names of shoguns or historical years, but they can remember names of Pok\u00e9mon alongside their base stats,\u201d another <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/maru_gaishi\/status\/2028616321286762719?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">user joked<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That being said, Pok\u00e9mon fans learning Japanese as a foreign language also have no excuse now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Related articles:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/pokemon-cards-are-finally-becoming-accessible-to-kids-again-as-japans-speculative-bubble-collapses\/\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/pokemon-cards-are-finally-becoming-accessible-to-kids-again-as-japans-speculative-bubble-collapses\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Pok\u00e9mon cards are finally becoming accessible\u00a0to kids\u00a0again\u00a0as Japan\u2019s speculative bubble collapses\u00a0<br><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With the addition of Generation 10, the total number of Pok\u00e9mon has officially surpassed the number of kanji taught in elementary schools.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":61788,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[17,70],"class_list":["post-61787","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-japan-related-news","tag-pokemon-series"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - 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