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Kanji for Jade
The kanji most commonly used for "Jade" are 玉、翠、瑶.
玉
Kanji that mean Jade
瑶 is a jewel character rather than a jade character. Its dictionary sense is “beautiful as a jewel,” and in Japanese it is used almost entirely in given names, read yō or tama. It suggests preciousness and luster in general, not the specific green stone.
For jade itself the everyday Japanese word is 翡翠 (hisui) — the same two characters that name the kingfisher, after the bird’s color. 翠 alone means the deep blue-green shade and is used in names, read sui or midori.
玉 is the classical character for jade and still the one with the strongest claim to it in the Chinese tradition, where jade stands for virtue and integrity. In modern Japanese, though, 玉 has drifted toward “ball, bead, sphere” — 目玉 (eyeball), 十円玉 (ten-yen coin), 玉ねぎ (onion) — so a Japanese reader meeting it alone thinks of a round object before a gemstone.
Before you use Jade kanji
瑶 works as a name character but reads as "jewel-like," not "jade." For jade itself, 翡翠 is the word a Japanese reader recognizes immediately, and 玉 on its own now reads as "ball" more often than "gem."