January 6, 2025

First - why this book? Because it has the best mnemonics for associating kanji with meanings that I could find.

There are already 2 good reviews, I'll just add some thoughts on how to use it as a beginner as it's worth being aware this books is conceived for people who already have an intermediate level of Japanese and who are going to move relatively quickly through learning all kanji in the book.

There are two use cases: You're at the intermediate+ level of Japanese but have weak kanji knowledge or big gaps in your kanji knowledge. Then use the book as described in the intro from start to finish, or however you like really.

However, for beginners, the vocab included is too advanced and the ordering isn't the most useful for you imo. So you can't easily follow as a complete beginner from entry #1 to #2300. But as a complete beginner, you can use it as a great reference for mnemonics in any order that you like until your language level is high enough that it makes sense to go through the book in order as intended. You need to have gone through the first 50-100 entries in order to get the most basic mnemonics, but after that, you can normally find new ones related to a later entry in the entries preceding your target entry, or he will reference it.

A the very beginner stages (level 0), e.g., someone learning grammar with Genki I, then I suggest getting the related kanji workbook Kanji Look and Learn (KLL). Learn kanji in the order of Genki and KLL, cross-referencing them here. There are lists online and it's easy to set that up in Chase Colburn's kanji study app. Use the kanji reading exercises in Genki and KLL until you can read at Natively 20-23, from that point, the KKLC graded reader sets are going to be brilliant for you.

At some point, (for me it happened when I was comfortably reading at Natively 23+, had N3 grammar down, and >3000 words solid), it was more effective to then go back to my earliest unread entry and go through this book in the order presented. Also at this level, the related graded reader sets (GRS) became useful.

Even then, as you come across other kanji you need to know, e.g., from N3, or Grade 4 lists, then cross reference them, read the related entries/mnemonics of surrounding entries with related kanji, and there you go. Then go back to going through in order.

A note about a compatible apps There are some fantastic resources that couple well with this approach. Chase Colburn's Kanji Study App can sort kanji according to KKLC and has integrated the KKLC graded reading sets (add-on purchases). And I could sort in other orders (JLPT, school grades, etc, or make custom sets). Also there is single click anki card creation for all kanji / words / sentences. Furthermore, the app has integration with Satori reader, so as you mark off kanji as known, then the furigana will be removed on the Satori app (also 100% highly recommended).

Update: Satori Reader now has integrated support for KKLC, so if you are learning kanji in order and don't want the above Kanji Study integration, you can just enter your kklc entry number and it will remove furigana for all previous kanji.

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