• 人 – Person
• 入 – Enter, insert

人 (Person) and 入 (Enter) are both JLPT4/N5 and learnt in Grade 1 in Japanese schools, however for a beginner, they can be very easily mixed up.

The only visual difference between the two is the small stroke at the top of 入 (enter), which is what I use to create a story in my mind to remember the two.

However, the line at the top is not an actual stroke (both are two stroke kanji) so you may see 入 without the line when it is hand-written or in different printed fonts out in the wild when you’re next travelling around Japan.

The example image above is a very common use of the “Enter” kanji, which you will see everywhere in Japan as it means Entrance (入 – Enter, 口 – Mouth, Opening). Thanks to kejhu for image.

So how do I differentiate the two when there is no extra line at the top? The kanji for 人 (Person) tends to lean to the right and 入 (Enter) seems to lean to the left.

I learnt 人 (person) first and used the obvious similarity to a person standing with their legs apart to remember it, which has served me well. Once you get a few kanji under your belt these early ones seem like a breeze. Really ^_^

So to remember 入 (enter) I visualise a very tall person “entering” through a doorway with his head bent slightly forward (the stroke at the top of the kanji). If you really want to stretch your imagination the kanji also resembles an old fashioned key, with your hand holding the end (the shape of a V) and “inserting” the key in to a door allows you to “enter”.

Mnemonics don’t work for everyone but they work very well for me and hopefully you.