Yamato kotoba
Japanese also invented many of its own kanji to name things that could be found in Japan, but not China (usually plants and animals). These are called kokuji (kanji: 国字, hiragana: こくじ) meaning "national characters", or wasei-kanji (kanji: 和製漢字, hiragana: わせいかんじ) meaning "Japanese-made Chinese characters". Kokuji include the names of fish like iwashi (kanji: 鰯, hiragana: いわし, meaning: sardine), tara (kanji: 鱈, hiragana: たら, meaning: codfish), and kisu (kanji: 鱚, hiragana: きす, meaning: sillago), and trees like kashi (kanji: 樫, hiragana: かし, meaning: evergreen oak), sugi (kanji: 椙, hiragana: すぎ, meaning: Japanese cedar), and kaba or momiji (kanji: 椛, hiragana: かば/もみじ, meaning: birch/maple). Most kokuji only have kun'yomi because they are yamato kotoba, but some kanji also have on'yomi, like 働 (on'yomi: dō どう, kun'yomi: hatara(ku) はたら(く), meaning: work), and some have only on'yomi, like 腺 (on'yomi: sen せん, meaning: gland).