Referring to Chinese Characters that are not used in Japanese


I was reading the internet today and noticed someone said that the kanji `获`
does not exist.

This character is very commonly used in Chinese and can be found in the
Unicode CJK Unified Ideographs (Han) block at code point
[U+83B7](http://www.unicode.org/cgi-bin/GetUnihanData.pl?codepoint=83B7).

The statement that the kanji didn't exist got me wondering, in Japanese, how
would one refer to a Chinese Character that isn't used in the Japanese
language? Would it not still be referred to as kanji?




They're still kanji, for _kanji_ is the Japanese reading of 漢字 "Chinese
character". The same reason we call comics from everywhere _manga_ , unlike in
English.

> _how would one refer to a Chinese Character that isn't used in the Japanese
> language?_

There are two scenarios:

  * the kanji is theoretically usable, or historically attested in Japan, but rarely used in Japanese due to linguistic differences or whatever reason

We can call them:

> （日本では）珍しい漢字  
>  （日本では）（あまり）使われない漢字

  * Japan and other countries have different standards for the kanji, so that (the specific form of) it never occurred in Japanese writing

We can call them:

> 外国の漢字 _or_ [country name]の漢字  
>  日本の漢字じゃない

In your case, 获 is the Simplified form in PRC corresponding to 穫 and 獲 in
Japanese orthography.




获 is the simplified form of 獲 and thus only used in simplified Chinese. The
Japanese word for simplified Chinese characters is 簡体字{かんたいじ}.

獲 on the other hand is a commonly used character in Japanese that is taught in
schools.

Generally, characters not in 常用漢字 (regular-use kanji) or 人名用漢字 (name kanji)
are referred to as 表外字 ("characters outside the table"). That doesn't mean
they can't be used, though. 糞{くそ} for one is a character that is a 表外字 but is
still commonly used and most Japanese people know it.

