Remembering the Kanji 1: A Complete Course on How Not to Forget the Meaning and Writing of Japanese Characters, 6th Edition
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- Create Date：2021-08-25 08:55:02
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：James W. Heisig
- ISBN：0824835921
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Summary
Updated to include the 196 new kanji approved by the Japanese government in 2010 as “general-use” kanji， the sixth edition of this popular text aims to provide students with a simple method for correlating the writing and the meaning of Japanese characters in such a way as to make them both easy to remember。 It is intended not only for the beginner， but also for the more advanced student looking for some relief from the constant frustration of forgetting how to write the kanji， or for a way to systematize what he or she already knows。
The author begins with writing the kanji because—contrary to first impressions—it is in fact simpler than learning how to the pronounce them。 By ordering the kanji according to their component parts or “primitive elements，” and then assigning each of these parts a distinct meaning with its own distinct image， the student is led to harness the powers of “imaginative memory” to learn the various combinations that make up the kanji。 In addition， each kanji is given its own key word to represent the meaning， or one of the principal meanings， of that character。 These key words provide the setting for a particular kanji’s “story，” whose protagonists are the primitive elements。
In this way， one is able to complete in a few short months a task that would otherwise take years。 Armed with the same skills as Chinese or Korean students， who know the meaning and writing of the kanji but not their Japanese pronunciations， one is then in a much better position to learn the readings （which are treated in a separate volume）。
Remembering the Kanji has helped tens of thousands of students advance towards literacy at their own pace， and to acquire a facility that traditional methods have long since given up on as all but impossible for those not raised with the kanji from childhood。
________________________________________________________________________
Original Book's description:
The aim of this book is to provide the student of Japanese with a simple method for correlating the writing and the meaning of Japanese characters in such a way as to make them both easy to remember。 It is intended not only for the beginner， but also for the more advanced student looking for some relief from the constant frustration of how to write the kanji and some way to systematize what he or she already knows。 The author begins with writing because--contrary to first impressions--it is in fact the simpler of the two。 He abandons the traditional method of ordering the kanji according to their frequency of use and organizes them according to their component parts or "primitive elements。" Assigning each of these parts a distinct meaning with its own distinct image， the student is led to harness the powers of "imaginative memory" to learn the various combinations that result。 In addition， each kanji is given its own key word to represent the meaning， or one of the principal meanings， of that character。 These key words provide the setting for a particular kanji's "story，" whose protagonists are the primitive elements。
The author begins with writing the kanji because—contrary to first impressions—it is in fact simpler than learning how to the pronounce them。 By ordering the kanji according to their component parts or “primitive elements，” and then assigning each of these parts a distinct meaning with its own distinct image， the student is led to harness the powers of “imaginative memory” to learn the various combinations that make up the kanji。 In addition， each kanji is given its own key word to represent the meaning， or one of the principal meanings， of that character。 These key words provide the setting for a particular kanji’s “story，” whose protagonists are the primitive elements。
In this way， one is able to complete in a few short months a task that would otherwise take years。 Armed with the same skills as Chinese or Korean students， who know the meaning and writing of the kanji but not their Japanese pronunciations， one is then in a much better position to learn the readings （which are treated in a separate volume）。
Remembering the Kanji has helped tens of thousands of students advance towards literacy at their own pace， and to acquire a facility that traditional methods have long since given up on as all but impossible for those not raised with the kanji from childhood。
________________________________________________________________________
Original Book's description:
The aim of this book is to provide the student of Japanese with a simple method for correlating the writing and the meaning of Japanese characters in such a way as to make them both easy to remember。 It is intended not only for the beginner， but also for the more advanced student looking for some relief from the constant frustration of how to write the kanji and some way to systematize what he or she already knows。 The author begins with writing because--contrary to first impressions--it is in fact the simpler of the two。 He abandons the traditional method of ordering the kanji according to their frequency of use and organizes them according to their component parts or "primitive elements。" Assigning each of these parts a distinct meaning with its own distinct image， the student is led to harness the powers of "imaginative memory" to learn the various combinations that result。 In addition， each kanji is given its own key word to represent the meaning， or one of the principal meanings， of that character。 These key words provide the setting for a particular kanji's "story，" whose protagonists are the primitive elements。
In this way， students are able to complete in a few short months a task that would otherwise take years。 Armed with the same skills as Chinese or Korean students， who know the meaning and writing of the kanji but not their pronunciation in Japanese， they are now in a much better position to learn to read （which is treated in a separate volume）。
Reviews
Louis
，
I used this book as part of the 'Recognition Remembering the Kanji' approach to learning kanji （often referred to as RRTK）， which involved learning a reduced list of characters and only needing to recall their keyword upon recognition， rather than writing them myself upon hearing the keyword。 Despite my less thorough use of RTK than its intended method， I found it indescribably helpful。 This book outlines an amazing approach to learning kanji that has enabled me to recognise kanji and estimate t I used this book as part of the 'Recognition Remembering the Kanji' approach to learning kanji （often referred to as RRTK）， which involved learning a reduced list of characters and only needing to recall their keyword upon recognition， rather than writing them myself upon hearing the keyword。 Despite my less thorough use of RTK than its intended method， I found it indescribably helpful。 This book outlines an amazing approach to learning kanji that has enabled me to recognise kanji and estimate their meanings in context with an ease that I never would have thought possible before I started。 Through this method， it's easy to break down kanji into 'primitive elements' and see them with clarity as distinct characters， rather than as incomprehensible squiggles。 The 'memory scaffolding' created through use of mnemonics is also invaluable in helping a meaning/keyword to stick over time， with the association between the character and keyword eventually becoming innate。A criticism I have of this book （and one of the reasons why I followed a shortened version） is that some of the keywords are so obscure that I didn't even know their meaning in English， so I had very little hope of being able to recall them。 Furthermore， some of the characters' primitive meanings （i。e。 their keyword when appearing as part of another character rather than when encountered alone） are very abstract and introduced in an off-hand way with no explanation。 This led me to feel bewildered when encountering them as part of other characters later， and I usually had no idea where to look back to find them again。However， despite a few shortcomings， I think this book and its approach are amazing。 It's a significant commitment to make， but the payoff is huge， and it gives you a real head-start when beginning to learn Japanese。 。。。more
Meg
，
Started this book in the 2000's and tried to do it on and off for several years。 But I could never prioritize it enough， and had difficulty in coming up with an easy and efficient reviewing method。 In 2009 I discovered the Kanji Koohii site and started the book again。 I got as about 500-600 kanji。 Then in 2010/2011 I decided I had other priorities and just couldn't afford the time needed to focus on studying kanji and set the book and site completely aside indefinitely。 Fast-forward a decade， to Started this book in the 2000's and tried to do it on and off for several years。 But I could never prioritize it enough， and had difficulty in coming up with an easy and efficient reviewing method。 In 2009 I discovered the Kanji Koohii site and started the book again。 I got as about 500-600 kanji。 Then in 2010/2011 I decided I had other priorities and just couldn't afford the time needed to focus on studying kanji and set the book and site completely aside indefinitely。 Fast-forward a decade， to 2020 and the year of COVID。 I decided with all the staying home I would be doing it would be the opportune time for me to buckle down and give James Heisig's method of remembering the kanji my best shot。 It took me nine months， but I did it！ I still have so much to learn， but， becoming fluent in Kanji--without killing myself with study and still managing to have a life and focus on other important things--is looking very much like a possibility。 I've heard mixed reviews about book two， but I'm looking forward to trying it along with other methods， and also doing book three。 To anyone interested in using this method， I can't recommend enough using this book in tandem with the Kanji Koohii website （https://kanji。koohii。com） where thousands of users have taken Heisig's method to another level and developed a support group and system， of sorts。 And best of all， the site is completely free。 。。。more
Khalid
，
لقد هرمنا من أجل هذه اللحظة التاريخية。الكانجي هو البعبع، الوحش الأصعب في اللعبة، الشبح اللي يزور منام كل شخص قرر يتعلم اليابانية。。 هو قمة جبل إفرست اللي لازم تحاول تسلقها، هو كتلة الجليد ❄️ الذي تصدم به تايتنك 🛳 أي متعلم。تعددت التشبيهات والمعنى واحد: الكانجي هو الجزء المعقد في اللغة اليابانية ل أسباب كثيرة جدًا، حصرها هنا مستحيل لكن منها ما هو متعلق بتاريخ ميلاده ونشأته وجذوره الصينية واختلاف استخداماته ومعانيه وطرق كتابته واعداده الهائلة （قرابة الخمسة الاف تحتاج تعرف منها على الأقل الفين） وغيره لقد هرمنا من أجل هذه اللحظة التاريخية。الكانجي هو البعبع، الوحش الأصعب في اللعبة، الشبح اللي يزور منام كل شخص قرر يتعلم اليابانية。。 هو قمة جبل إفرست اللي لازم تحاول تسلقها، هو كتلة الجليد ❄️ الذي تصدم به تايتنك 🛳 أي متعلم。تعددت التشبيهات والمعنى واحد: الكانجي هو الجزء المعقد في اللغة اليابانية ل أسباب كثيرة جدًا، حصرها هنا مستحيل لكن منها ما هو متعلق بتاريخ ميلاده ونشأته وجذوره الصينية واختلاف استخداماته ومعانيه وطرق كتابته واعداده الهائلة （قرابة الخمسة الاف تحتاج تعرف منها على الأقل الفين） وغيرها الكثير。。 الكانجي هو البحر الذي تطفو فوقه اللغة اليابانية باختصار。 لذلك اذا كنت ما تريد تغرق أنت والتايتنك خاصتك يا متعلم فلازم تزود سفينتك بمعدات وأسلحة تمكنها من تجاوز تلك الكتلة الجليدية。كتاب تذكر الكانجي لي هايسچ سينسي هو واحد من تلك الأسلحة وأفضلها من وجهة نظري。هذا الكتاب ما راح يخليك متحدث طلق ولا حتى متحدث جيد ولا راح يعلمك تقرأ أصلًا لأنه لو كان كذلك ما كنت كتبت جريدة فوق عن صعوبة الكانجي وما كنت قلت عنه بعبع بل فرخ ولا وحش بل جرو ولا جبل بل هضبة ولا سفينة بل زورق لذلك لازم تكون منطقي تجاه توقعاتك لهذا الكتاب لأنك راح تقضي معه أقل شي ثلاث أشهر حتى تختمه ومن ثم بعد نهاية هذه المدة ستجد أن مستواك لازال يشابه ذاك الذي يمتلكه طالب حضانة 👨🍼 ورغم كل ذلك، هذا الكتاب سيجعل صراعك وحياتك مع الكانجي أسهل و سيحوله من جبل إفرست الى جبل سمحان او شمس او اي جبل موجود ببلادك。。 سيبقى جبل بالنهاية ويجب عليك تسلقه لكن تسلق جبل شمس أسهل من تسلق إفرست ولا ايش رايك انت؟ هذا الكتاب راح يخليك تفهم الشيء المعقد اللي أسمه كانجي ويقربك منه ومن معانيه المختلفة ويعود عقلك وعينك عليه لأنه راح يفككه الى اجزاءه الاصلية والبسيطة، بعده اذا شفت جملة يابانية ما راح تحس أنها لغة فضائية من مجرة بعيدة ولا لغة هيروغليفيه كتبها الفراعنة القدماء بل لغة بشرية حتى وان كنت تجهل اصواتها ومعانيها الا انها ستبدو لك كشيء مألوف。。 كأنها رفيق قديم نسيت كل تفاصيل حياته وحتى أسمه لكنك بمجرد ما تشوف وجهه سيعتريك شعور الالفة والاطمئنان ذاك فيجذبك له لأنك تحس أنك تعرفه و شعور المعرفة ذاك يفرق كثير！ عمومًا الكتاب وحدة ما راح يفيد كثير لازم معه تستخدم أدوات أخرى تسرع من عملية فهمك واستيعابك له هذه الادوات لا يتسع لها هذا الفضاء لكن راح أذكر اسمائها حتى تبحث عنها。 -Spaced repetition software （SRS）: أنصح ببرنامج أنكي-rtk github （hochanh）: تحصل منه على قصص تساعدك في الحفظ-Mass immersion approach: النظام الذي أتبعه مع اليابانية 。。。more
Esteban Roche
，
Wenisimo libro para familiarizarse con los Kanji y dejar de verlos como simples rayas verticales， horizontales o diagonales。 Aunque me quedé en los 1700， continuaré con mi bida y aprenderé el resto en el camino。Grande Heisig。
Maciej Borowik
，
This book really brings out the masochist in you。 It took me slightly over 2 years to get to the last page。 That's fine - it's not a race。 Black chihuahuas rest in silence。 This book really brings out the masochist in you。 It took me slightly over 2 years to get to the last page。 That's fine - it's not a race。 Black chihuahuas rest in silence。 。。。more
Alex MacMillan
，
My brother， who is self-taught in Spanish and Korean， got me this for Christmas when he noticed that I committed to learning Japanese in the runup to my February vacation to Tokyo。 I've been methodically working my through all 2200 characters of the Jōyō kanji since the Covid lockdowns started。 On a 10 new words per day pace， I'm on track to finish by the end of the year。 Every day， I draw the characters with pen and pad， creating stories using the "primitive element" shapes that comprise each c My brother， who is self-taught in Spanish and Korean， got me this for Christmas when he noticed that I committed to learning Japanese in the runup to my February vacation to Tokyo。 I've been methodically working my through all 2200 characters of the Jōyō kanji since the Covid lockdowns started。 On a 10 new words per day pace， I'm on track to finish by the end of the year。 Every day， I draw the characters with pen and pad， creating stories using the "primitive element" shapes that comprise each character so that the memorization of the keyword associated with each kanji will eventually stick （this website provides ready-made stories by others who have completed this book）。 The 10 new words are automatically added to my （modified） Anki flashcard deck， a spaced-repetition software system that dramatically speeds up memorization。Unlike my brother， I am a casual learner with no plans to live abroad as an English teacher any time soon。 This book， alongside my lengthy Duolingo streak， amounts to a daily crossword puzzle that I can someday use to read signs and communicate in broken Japanese when I can return to Japan again。 I've enjoyed uncovering the stories and cultural contexts that are embedded in Japanese/Chinese writing scripts as I attempt to associate thousands of stroke patterns with mental images。 - 9/20/20 。。。more
Adan Vargas
，
Jesus FRICKING Christ。This book consumed my life for the past 6 months， but I finally did it。Let's FRICKING go。 Jesus FRICKING Christ。This book consumed my life for the past 6 months， but I finally did it。Let's FRICKING go。 。。。more
Alexander
，
I have been studying Japanese off and on for the better part of a decade， and had never truly attempted to tackle kanji as it seemed so daunting to memorize 2000 plus characters。 I really wish I would have gotten this book years ago。 The method within is by far the best I have come across， I learned the first 200 or so within about two weeks。 I highly recommend this to all students of Japanese。
Gabriel
，
Kanji。 Fucking。 Master。
Julianne （Outlandish Lit）
，
I finally did it。 It only took me four years to really commit to it haha。There's so much back and forth about whether or not RTK is a valuable method。 After many years of dipping in and out of learning Japanese with different techniques， I'm at this point around an N3 level （per my iTalki tutor's assessment）， though it's hard to judge because I learn a lot of random stuff out of "order" through immersion。 I had almost decided against RTK entirely after hitting roughly 600 kanji a year or two pri I finally did it。 It only took me four years to really commit to it haha。There's so much back and forth about whether or not RTK is a valuable method。 After many years of dipping in and out of learning Japanese with different techniques， I'm at this point around an N3 level （per my iTalki tutor's assessment）， though it's hard to judge because I learn a lot of random stuff out of "order" through immersion。 I had almost decided against RTK entirely after hitting roughly 600 kanji a year or two prior to when I started to focus on learning Japanese in a sustainable way this year （consistency over intensity， with a focus on fun immersion learning）。 But as I was working through native content （books， games， websites）， I realized how helpful it was when I ran into a word I didn't know but I already knew what the kanji meant。 And I realized how helpless I felt staring at a string of kanji whose lines were completely meaningless to me。 Because of this and because rote memorization feels like absolute torture， I decided to finally focus and pursue the completion of this book alongside the kanji。koohii。com story database & flashcards （yeah， yeah， I should use anki， whatever）。 I'm so so happy I stuck to it。Only reason it's not five stars is because damn sometimes Heisig is so weird in how he decides how to present things。 。。。more
Brandon
，
Fantastic。 I don't think i'd ever have learned to write the kanji otherwise。 Use with kanji。koohi。com！ Fantastic。 I don't think i'd ever have learned to write the kanji otherwise。 Use with kanji。koohi。com！ 。。。more
Ashley Lambert-Maberly
，
I liked it okay， but ultimately opted for the online learning system Wanikani， and rather than hold two separate systems of mnemonics in my head， I stopped reading。（Note: 5 stars = amazing， wonderful， 4 = very good book， 3 = decent read， 2 = disappointing， 1 = awful， just awful。 I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s）。 I feel a lot of readers automatically render any book they enjoy 5， but I grade on a curve！ I liked it okay， but ultimately opted for the online learning system Wanikani， and rather than hold two separate systems of mnemonics in my head， I stopped reading。（Note: 5 stars = amazing， wonderful， 4 = very good book， 3 = decent read， 2 = disappointing， 1 = awful， just awful。 I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s）。 I feel a lot of readers automatically render any book they enjoy 5， but I grade on a curve！ 。。。more
Ђорђе Мојсиловић
，
I forgot。。
Alex
，
Empecé este libro ya teniendo 8 años estudiando japonés y después de fracasar rotundamente en estudiar con los libros del kanken en los que me quedé en el nivel 7 （4to de primaria） porque las formas no se me quedaban tan bien y las lecturas se me escapaban después de un tiempo， simplemente la manera de aprenderlos es muy ineficiente para alguien que no está rodeado de los caracteres y el idioma todos los días。 Decidí empezarlo porque kanji es de mis cosas favoritas en japonés y siempre tuve el d Empecé este libro ya teniendo 8 años estudiando japonés y después de fracasar rotundamente en estudiar con los libros del kanken en los que me quedé en el nivel 7 （4to de primaria） porque las formas no se me quedaban tan bien y las lecturas se me escapaban después de un tiempo， simplemente la manera de aprenderlos es muy ineficiente para alguien que no está rodeado de los caracteres y el idioma todos los días。 Decidí empezarlo porque kanji es de mis cosas favoritas en japonés y siempre tuve el deseo de leer textos nativos por mi cuenta。 Pues a pesar de lo controversial del método por la falta de lecturas， se me hizo muy atractivo por la promesa de poder escribir de memoria cualquier carácter solo partiendo de una palabra clave。 La falta de lecturas fue compensada con todo el vocabulario que ya había aprendido a través de los años al que finalmente le asigné sus letras correctas y de todos modos aprendí por mi cuenta muchas lecturas más sobre la marcha。Aprender 2200 caracteres no es de ninguna manera algo sencillo， este método mnemotécnico facilita mucho la tarea， lo que lo hace más cuestión de tiempo y constancia que de dificultad。 A mí me tomó un poco más de un año， pero estaba ardiente en mi decisión。 Una cosa que me motivó mucho fue que al terminar de ver una película china， en los créditos al final usaron caracteres tradicionales （los que usan los japoneses） y pude reconocer una enorme cantidad de ellos enseguida。 Igual al leer artículos del periódico aún si no puedo pronunciar todo， puedo comprender la lectura perfectamente， y apoyándome con un diccionario el aprendizaje se integra。 Sin mencionar que mi escritura ha mejorado mucho y que puedes impresionar a japoneses escribiendo incluso mejor que muchos de ellos。Mi recomendación para quien tenga dudas de seguir este libro es que entren con una mente abierta y paciencia， no vas a aprender las lecturas， no vas a aprender todos los significados e incluso en algunos la palabra clave es un significado secundario del carácter， eso a muchos les molesta， pero lo que pasará al completar la tarea es que podrás escribir de memoria cualquier letra o reconocerlas al momento al mismo nivel que un nativo y de ahí en adelante podrás dedicarte con una facilidad impresionante a aprender las lecturas y significados de cada uno teniendo una base sólida sobre la que apoyarte。 Ya que te quitas kanji del camino， es como que estés estudiando cualquier otro idioma。 Como dice el dicho， divide y vencerás。 。。。more
Evan
，
I'm going to be the minority here since most people getting this book and reviewing it are those that are new learners of Japanese。 Once your Japanese gets to a certain point， you'll understand why I wouldn't recommend this book。 First of all， there are no readings whatsoever。 You can't actually read Japanese unless you can， well， read Japanese。 Knowing that two Kanji mean two different English words doesn't mean you know how to read Japanese。 If you don't know what that Kanji says in actual Jap I'm going to be the minority here since most people getting this book and reviewing it are those that are new learners of Japanese。 Once your Japanese gets to a certain point， you'll understand why I wouldn't recommend this book。 First of all， there are no readings whatsoever。 You can't actually read Japanese unless you can， well， read Japanese。 Knowing that two Kanji mean two different English words doesn't mean you know how to read Japanese。 If you don't know what that Kanji says in actual Japanese， you don't know those Kanji， period。 If you tell me that 童貞 means an "upright child" then you just sound ridiculous。 A book that doesn't teach readings but claims it teaches Kanji is a scam。 Second， there is no real order here。 What？ Order by primitives？ What the hell is that？When learning Kanji， the most effective way is to either learn by frequency or by grade level。 Having it ordered makes sense to remember how to write them but is ineffective in actually learning Kanji。 I'll admit， this book does have a good use。 And that is， to get used to Kanji and it's strokes。 Without this book， I'd be scared to really learn Kanji and would see it as a bunch of lines scattered all over the place， randomly meaning something。 After I've gone through Heisig， I can see that Kanjis are actually made up of parts， written with specific strokes。 It definitely gave me more confidence when tackling Kanji but it didn't actually teach Kanji at all。 Finally， this book doesn't work。 It's been over a year since I've used this book and I remember not a single story。 All the Kanji I know is from constant exposure or writing it out a ton of times。 There are still going to be people sucked into buying this book because someone who has been studying Japanese for 3 months recommended it， but it's not a good resource。 Even my Japanese teacher disagrees， who I would've been thankful to have when I first started studying and not have wasted 3 months going through all the Kanji in this book。 。。。more
Jacob van Berkel
，
Works by assigning 'keywords' to each kanji （so learning the meaning first， without initially learning the readings） and by constructing the kanji from the elements up。 Both of these basic methods I recommend。 Some opponents s of learning the meanings separate from the readings like to claim that Japanese themselves do it all at once too， but they don't: after all， by the time Japanese kids start learning kanji， they already speak Japanese quite proficiently。 They already know the readings and t Works by assigning 'keywords' to each kanji （so learning the meaning first， without initially learning the readings） and by constructing the kanji from the elements up。 Both of these basic methods I recommend。 Some opponents s of learning the meanings separate from the readings like to claim that Japanese themselves do it all at once too， but they don't: after all， by the time Japanese kids start learning kanji， they already speak Japanese quite proficiently。 They already know the readings and the meanings of the words， they just add the kanji to that as a last step - so separately。 Constructing the kanji from the elements up is also the way to go I feel。 If you see 'learning Japanese' as one general skill， I agree it would make sense to first learn the most commonly used characters， and the more obscure elements they consist of only later。 But I don't see 'learning Japanese' as one geneal skill， but as a set of particular skills， and learning the kanji is simply of these particular skills。 And for the particular purpose of remembering the kanji， the best way is the most logical way， that fits the human brain like a glove: and that is to construct them from the elements up。 Like you wouldn't learn architecture by first memorizing blueprints of buildings， to only later finally find out what a brick or a steel beam actually is。 So the basic method is worth 5 stars。 Why I won't give it 5 is because some of the keywords assigned to the kanji were， just， really 。。。 dumb。 And really unhelpful， too。 Using the actual meaning of the elements & kanji， either current or etymological， makes way more sense to me， so because of these dumb keywords I had to keep looking up characters & elements in Kenneth Henshall's A Guide to Remembering etc。， which took a lot of time， unnecessarily。 All in all， it's not a silver bullet （and even if it were， learning kanji is not a werewolf） and the only way to really learn the kanji is obviously just by reading a shedload， but this method really does provide a good crutch。 。。。more
Paulina Grunwald
，
Great book for learning kanji。 In the begining the method seems to be weird but it does work！
Sarah
，
I borrowed this from my library as an Interlibrary Loan， so I didn't have much time with it。 However， I had enough time with it to know that this isn't the study method for me。 Much of the book was useful， however the method just isn't my learning style。 I actually prefer learning the kanji， the meaning， and the pronunciation all together， and it seems to work well that way for my brain。 I borrowed this from my library as an Interlibrary Loan， so I didn't have much time with it。 However， I had enough time with it to know that this isn't the study method for me。 Much of the book was useful， however the method just isn't my learning style。 I actually prefer learning the kanji， the meaning， and the pronunciation all together， and it seems to work well that way for my brain。 。。。more
Dustin
，
I strongly believe I never would have learned kanji without this book。 Required studying！
Siraj
，
Before you start this book make sure you're using the 6th edition not the 4th， because that one has a couple errors （one or two keywords were repeated， another had the wrong Kanji， and on top of that it's not the full 2200 Kanji but 2046。 The 6th edition is the one you want）。This is a brilliant book。 The only book you need for writing and recognizing Kanji。 I can't praise it enough to be honest。 Although it required tremendous dedication from me because it got tedious as time went on especially Before you start this book make sure you're using the 6th edition not the 4th， because that one has a couple errors （one or two keywords were repeated， another had the wrong Kanji， and on top of that it's not the full 2200 Kanji but 2046。 The 6th edition is the one you want）。This is a brilliant book。 The only book you need for writing and recognizing Kanji。 I can't praise it enough to be honest。 Although it required tremendous dedication from me because it got tedious as time went on especially when synonyms of previous keywords started showing up。 Stipend， Income， Salary， Profit， Earnings， among other examples。 Somehow I needed to distinguish between all of them in my imaginary stories and sometimes I felt like I just couldn't be bothered to。 There's also the issue of not knowing what 40% of the keywords even meant and having to look them up。 Maybe the percentage is that high because I'm not a native speaker of English， but I believe many of the words used are also pretty old and have lost meaning in today's common English （the book was written in the 70s after all）， or is it also because it makes it easier to distinguish between synonyms perhaps？ （The heck does Sagacious even mean？ I still can't figure out the intuitive connotations of that word）。With all that said， this is the book to learn Kanji。 There's no real practical and efficient way that I know of to learn Kanji that works better than this method。 All 400 Kanji I presumably knew before starting this book （using the drilling method and brute force memorization） I would forget 50% of the time and wouldn't even know how to write 75% of them。 This book filled that gap and added 1600 Kanji on top of them。 They are presented in such a logical and organized way to avoid confusion with similar looking Kanji。2000+ Kanji in about two months， in addition to being able to dissect new Kanji and learn them effortlessly in the future。 I feel like I can learn a new Kanji just by seeing it a few times now。 You feel powerful seeing the progress and feel motivated to keep going further。 I had a lot of time so I used to do it all day， but even 4 months （as is the recommended pace by the author and most people） is still incredible considering that they are。。。 two thousand freaking Kanji that usually take Japanese children until the end of high school to learn。I would also recommend doing this book simultaneously with other Japanese reading because seeing the Kanji used in real texts reinforces their meanings and helps you add actual vocabulary to cement them even further in your memory。 And， although the book discourages you from doing this， I'd recommend even replacing the keywords of the book with the real Japanese words used for that Kanji， but only if you really know that word and have no trouble recalling it。 For instance I used "kimi" for 君 and "ore" for 俺 because I knew these words already， instead of the confusing English keywords of "old boy" and "myself"。 There are other keywords like "boy" and "oneself"， "self"， and "me" and I didn't need the extra confusion。 You're not going to read Japanese Kanji in English after all。。。 But if you're a newbie in Japanese with an empty word bank it might be better to just follow the book's instructions to the letter though。PS: Use it with an SRS software called Anki。 That way you don't waste time reviewing your ever-growing pile of Kanji everyday and focus only on the ones you need to review。 There are a lot of tutorials for it online。 Do the homework and you'll save yourself a lot of time and effort。PS。2: This is a very nice website I stumbled upon while looking for an easy reference of all RTK Kanji （it has books 1 and 3）。 I don't recommend using any of the stories underneath though。 All the stories I copied from other people ended up doing more harm than good and I had to redo them from my own imagination anyway because they just never stuck in my head。 I used this mainly to quickly look up Kanji I couldn't remember the keyword for， or to find the Kanji by keyword。 Much easier than looking through the indexes in the book。 You can even enter the primitive keyword and it'll show all the Kanji using that particular primitive。 Very cool。https://hochanh。github。io/rtk/index。html 。。。more
Bob Page
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https://www。youtube。com/watch？v=TgRte。。。 （not mine， but it's what motivated me to do RTK） https://www。youtube。com/watch？v=TgRte。。。 （not mine， but it's what motivated me to do RTK） 。。。more
Dominik
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The method shown in this book is a great way to study the japanese kanji and helped me a lot to memorize them， both in reading and writing。
Ru。
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If you are learning Japanese， this one is excellent to pick up！ I'm so glad I was reluctant to learn in traditional Japan-way， it would take me so much longer。。。But in reality， you do not need years to know all the characters， just follow the rules in this book and you can do it！ For those who are learning， I recommend to download Anki deck for this book， it is a bit more comfortable to memorize in that way。 If you are learning Japanese， this one is excellent to pick up！ I'm so glad I was reluctant to learn in traditional Japan-way， it would take me so much longer。。。But in reality， you do not need years to know all the characters， just follow the rules in this book and you can do it！ For those who are learning， I recommend to download Anki deck for this book， it is a bit more comfortable to memorize in that way。 。。。more
Hao Zui
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With all of its issues， such as this only being an introduction to kanji （though you're introduced to them all）， Heisig makes this daunting task a little less so and a lot more fun/fast， all them "f" words。 By the way， I like to brag and I finished it in 59 days filling up some 70 pages of notebook paper。 With all of its issues， such as this only being an introduction to kanji （though you're introduced to them all）， Heisig makes this daunting task a little less so and a lot more fun/fast， all them "f" words。 By the way， I like to brag and I finished it in 59 days filling up some 70 pages of notebook paper。 。。。more
Quí Hiển
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Only Kanji symbols and their English meanings， with hints for remembering。 And those hints are， for most of the time， sooo sooo sooo etymologically incorrect。 That's what grinds my gears。 The Kanji are not Egyptian hieroglyphs， and looking at Kanji won't teach you how to read a book， let alone how to speak （and the book doesn't even show you how to pronounce the Kanji， ffs）。 For a better Kanji book in the same memrise style， please do yourself a favour and buy the Kenneth Henshall's "A guide to Only Kanji symbols and their English meanings， with hints for remembering。 And those hints are， for most of the time， sooo sooo sooo etymologically incorrect。 That's what grinds my gears。 The Kanji are not Egyptian hieroglyphs， and looking at Kanji won't teach you how to read a book， let alone how to speak （and the book doesn't even show you how to pronounce the Kanji， ffs）。 For a better Kanji book in the same memrise style， please do yourself a favour and buy the Kenneth Henshall's "A guide to remembering Japanese characters"， published by Tuttle。 This has the best of both worlds， being etymologically correct （according to tradition and Kanji were made by the Chinese after all）， while taking into account the mnemonic aspect much applauded by certain readerships。 。。。more
Patrick Coakley
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This series has been my go-to for learning kanji over the last 10 years or so， especially when I need to brush up。 Highly recommended to anyone learning Japanese at any level。
Toofan
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Although it is very helpful in remembering the shape and stroke order of the kanji， it fails to provide any readings （On and Kun）。 Therefore it cannot be used on its own which is a big disadvantage。
Jerry
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I finally did it， and I'm not really sure what I think of it。By way of background， I've been a student of Mandarin for over 20+ years and I had the reading of most of these characters down before I came to this book。 I have also already put in about ten years of Japanese study （on and off）。 So when I got this book I was already reading in Japanese without too much trouble （popular novels， manga and such -- just need my trusty dictionary app and I'm fine。） I could not， however， write a lot of cha I finally did it， and I'm not really sure what I think of it。By way of background， I've been a student of Mandarin for over 20+ years and I had the reading of most of these characters down before I came to this book。 I have also already put in about ten years of Japanese study （on and off）。 So when I got this book I was already reading in Japanese without too much trouble （popular novels， manga and such -- just need my trusty dictionary app and I'm fine。） I could not， however， write a lot of characters from memory。 So this year I decided to tackle that issue， and invested in this book as well as the other two volumes。It's a lot of work and Heisig does not hide that fact。 But throughout I just kept wondering how useful would this be to recognize and write characters without knowing the most common readings and meanings？ Since I already know these readings I guess it worked out great for me。 I just don't know if I'd give this to a beginner。 How useful is it to learn a character's "general meaning" without knowing anything else about it？ So I'm testing my writing ability and finding that this method did help me with kanji I chronically forget。 I will continue on with the series， just to see what it's about。 I still find many characters are a challenge， as I can't remember all the stories。 I dunno。。。。 I have to exert almost as much energy creating and remembering the stories as I did when learning my kanji traditionally。 Time will tell if this method really saves me any energy。 。。。more
May 舞
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I DID IT！！ After 4 months of studying 25-50 Kanji characters every day， I can easily say that coming across this book has been one of the best things that has ever happened to me。 When I first started learning Japanese， I was in despair; not knowing how on earth was I going to memorize 2000+ complex characters and be expected to use them， but with Heisig's book it became fun and interesting。 And for that I'm deeply grateful。 I DID IT！！ After 4 months of studying 25-50 Kanji characters every day， I can easily say that coming across this book has been one of the best things that has ever happened to me。 When I first started learning Japanese， I was in despair; not knowing how on earth was I going to memorize 2000+ complex characters and be expected to use them， but with Heisig's book it became fun and interesting。 And for that I'm deeply grateful。 。。。more
Mariana
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