YukigoHow to learn kanji
Kanji are the characters of Chinese origin used in written Japanese: each one carries a meaning and one or more readings. Reading a newspaper takes about two thousand (the 2,136 official jōyō kanji).
The number is scary, but kanji aren't memorized one by one out of a list: they're built with a method. Here's the one that works.
On and kun readings
Almost every kanji has two kinds of reading: the on'yomi, of Chinese origin, usually used in compounds (水曜日 suiyōbi, “Wednesday”), and the kun'yomi, native Japanese, used when the kanji stands alone (水 mizu, “water”). Don't study them in the abstract: they stick through real words.
Where to start
Kana first, always. Then the most frequent and simple kanji, in JLPT-level order, tied to the vocabulary you're already studying. Radicals — the recurring building blocks — help you break complex characters into familiar pieces.
Write them by hand
Even though we type nowadays, tracing kanji in the correct stroke order speeds up recognition and saves you from lookalikes (末 vs 未, 土 vs 士). Muscle memory is one more channel.
Spaced repetition
The real enemy is forgetting. Spaced repetition (SRS) brings each kanji back just before you'd forget it, at growing intervals: it's the only method that scales to thousands of characters.
Your first kanji
Learn kanji with Yukigo
Stroke-order tracing, on/kun readings, real words for every kanji and spaced repetition — from N5 to N1, free and ad-free.
Coming to the App Store and Google Play.
Frequently asked questions
How many kanji do I need to learn?
There are 2,136 jōyō kanji, but you don't need them all at once: about 100 cover JLPT N5 and about 300 cover N4. You climb gradually.
In what order should I study them?
By frequency and JLPT level, together with the words they appear in — not in dictionary order or by stroke count.
Do I need to write them by hand?
Not for the JLPT (it's multiple choice), but writing helps memory and telling similar characters apart. Guided tracing is a good middle ground.
How much time per day?
15–30 minutes every day beats hours on the weekend: spaced repetition only works with consistency.