Kanji with the fish radical by frequency

Just for fun: Here are all Japanese characters with the fish radical, occurring in Aozora Bunko works, sorted by frequency. Aozora Bunko is a large electronic library of Japanese public domain literary works, including many literary classics with expired copyrights. It contains close to 100 milion words. I downloaded and processed the whole thing, extracted the relevant kanji and computed the frequencies.

In the table below, Count is the total number of occurences, Frequency is relative frequency within the characters sharing the same radical. The Readings and Meanings are taken from KANJIDIC.

Some observations: Only three of them (魚, 鮮, and 鯨) are jōyō (“common use”) kanji (marked in red), yet if you go to a restaurant, you will see plenty of these. (Would a frequency list based on restaurant menus be different?) Most of the characters denote fish, some denote other creatures (鯨 whale, 鰐 alligator, 鮑 abalone), some are related to fish (鮨 sushi, 鰭 fin), and a few have no direct connection with fish (鮮 fresh, 魯 foolish). There is a lot of kokuji (characters created in Japan, as opposed to those imported from China).

Note that characters just containing fish as a component, not radical, are not included (such as 漁).

Tip: If you just want a list of all Chinese and Japanese characters with a certain radical try this (technical note: limited to Unicode BMP).

CharacterCountFrequencyReadingsEnglish meaning
1410234.773 %ギョ うお さかな
-ざかな (nanori: い)
fish
771119.014 %セン あざ.やかfresh, vivid, clear, brilliant, Korea
16944.177 %リ こいcarp
16614.096 %デン ネン あゆ なまず
(nanori: あい)
freshwater trout, smelt
14643.610 %ゲイ くじらwhale
12293.031 %ロ おろかfoolish, Russia
10862.678 %チョウ たいsea bream, red snapper
10602.614 %セツ たらcodfish (kokuji)
10572.606 %リン うろこ こけ
こけら
scales (fish)
9332.301 %マン バン うなぎeel
7261.790 %ホ フ ブ ふなcarp
5551.369 %カイ ケイ さけ
しゃけ ふぐ
salmon
5481.351 %シ キ すしsushi, seasoned rice
5451.344 %コウ さめ みずちshark
5411.334 %いわしsardine (kokuji)
4991.230 %ケン かつおbonito
4601.134 %キ ギ ひれfin
4601.134 %ガク わにalligator, crocodile
4341.070 %ソン セン ザン ますsalmon trout
3240.799 %シュ シュウ どじょうloach (fish)
2920.720 %ネン なまずfresh-water catfish (kokuji)
2210.545 %レン にしんherring
2190.540 %キ ユウ イ
まぐろ しび
tuna
2100.518 %しゃちほこ しゃちfabulous dolphin-like fish, killer whale (kokuji)
2100.518 %セイ ショウ さばmackerel
1980.488 %ロ すずきsea bass
1960.483 %サ すしsushi, seasoned rice
1650.407 %シュウ シュ かじか
いなだ どじょう
bullhead
1640.404 %ホ ホウ あわびabalone
1580.390 %リュウ ル ぼらtype of fish, mullet
1490.367 %ショウ ヨウ
ふか ひもの
shark
1210.298 %ソウ あじhorse mackerel
1000.247 %チョウ トウ かれいsole, flatfish, flounder
800.197 %カン コン やもめ
やもお
widower, unmarried man
800.197 %カイ ゲ ガイ
はえ はや
dace (carp) (kokuji)
770.190 %フク あわび ふぐabalone, puffer fish
730.180 %シ ソウ ぶり はまち かますyellowtail
620.153 %ショウ ソウ たこoctopus
580.143 %きすsillaginoid (kokuji)
570.141 %コウanglerfish
570.141 %シ ぼら とどmullet (fish)
570.141 %アンangler-fish
470.116 %カ えびshrimp, prawn, lobster
470.116 %ヒ にしん はららごherring
440.108 %レイ はもconger, sea eel
440.108 %サイ シ えらgills, gill slits
390.096 %エキ するめcuttlefish
330.081 %ソウ あじhorse mackerel
320.079 %サ シャ さめ はぜgoby (fish)
310.076 %オン いわしsardine
300.074 %カイ ケ えそ なますlizard fish
260.064 %ホウ かがみたい おしきうお
かがみだい
type of sea bream
220.054 %コンlarge mythical fish, roe
190.047 %シュン さわらSpanish mackerel
160.039 %こちflathead (fish) (kokuji)
80.020 %めばる まて こち ごりbullhead, rockfish, razor clam, flathead (kokuji)
40.010 %カン かれい たらflatfish, turbot, cod
30.007 %コウ ちょうざめ
ひがい
sturgeon
30.007 %ゲイ さんしょううおsalamander, female whale, small fish, old person's teeth
30.007 %ヒョウ ヘイ ひらめflounder, flatfish
20.005 %ヒョウ ふえ
うきぶくろ
fish bladder
20.005 %はたはたsandfish (kokuji)
20.005 %コンlarge mythical fish, proper name
10.002 %ゴウ おおがめhuge sea turtle
10.002 %オン いわしsardine
10.002 %かずのこyellow fish (herring) eggs (sushi) (kokuji)
10.002 %このしろgizzard shad (kokuji)