How to use this site

There are many methods of learning the kanji. Some learn them from specialized resources like Heisig's Remembering the Kanji; others learn them incidentally as their textbooks present vocabulary; still others have their own individual approaches.

This site aims to provide resources that can be useful to learners taking any approach. Each kanji entry presents an individual kanji, along with:

• its principal readings, approximate meaning, stroke count, and radical
• vocabulary words containing the kanji
• example sentences exercising the vocabulary
• etymology or other information

The kanji are presented in an order suitable for learning: simpler and more common kanji first, more complex or rarer kanji later. Where possible, the main vocabulary words will make use of kanji from earlier in the sequence, so they can be understood more easily, if the kanji are taken in order.

You need not memorize etymologies or worry about changes in the meaning of modern kanji. They are provided only as additional material which may be used to construct mnemonics.

Rather than attempting to memorize the readings and meanings of the kanji directly, it is suggested to learn the words that contain those kanji, which will naturally teach the common readings and meanings.

This site provides resources primarily for learning vocabulary. It is best to use it along with a textbook or other resource that explains grammar in a structured way.