Kanji Fast Finder

by Laurence Matthews

This Kanji reference book employs a revolutionary and user–friendly new way to look up Japanese Kanji by appearance rather than radical.

Kanji (Japanese characters) are fascinating, but frustrating part of the Japanese language. In particular looking up kanji in a traditional dictionary can be a nightmare as there is no "alphabetical order." With Kanji Fast Finder you can find a kanji in seconds from its appearance alone. From the finder chart inside the front cover, you can turn to the correct page immediately, and finding the kanji on that page has also been made as simple as possible. As an optional feature you can make a double thumbnail index. to speed things up even more. The fast finder is designed primarily for those who want to seriously learn Kanji and serves as a quick reference for experts, but is also suitable for beginners or people who wish to dip into kanji, browse, or simply discover what a street sign means. Wit this book you This book contains hints and suggestions on finding kanji but the system is so intuitive that you will be able to use it immediately and with very little guidance. By the time you have looked up half a dozen kanji, you will appreciate the speed with which you can locate kanji in the Fast Finder.

Genres: Japanese Literature, Language, Reference

144 pages, Paperback

First published December 15, 2003

About the author

Laurence Matthews has worked as an aviation consultant in Asia, including both China and Japan, and is the author of the Kanji Fast Finder and Chinese Character Fast Finder books. He has wide experience of organizing and presenting complex information to a variety of audiences.

This page is hosted jointly with Alison Matthews, Laurence's co-author on several books including 'Learning Chinese Characters' and the forthcoming 'Framespotting'.

Reviews

[Nash · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, I guess it would be another book that I doubt if I'd ever finish or move to the "already-read" shelf within this life time! It's a very valuable companion for students of Japanese language because it does have a way to group together Kanji characters by the "look" of it rather than the sound or the radicals. This means it can be indexed for "Fast-Finding" as the title promises and does delivers superbly. Since I'm a visually-stimulated person and I learn and remember faster if I get to "see" things, this book is like a manna from Heaven! I really, really like the idea behind the book! It is fun just to browse through and each character is big enough for you to try to break down its components and try to memorize in your own way (my most favorite pastime is to create a story behind it!) Any minus point could be that since its primary goal is to provide the main pronunciation and meaning for all the Joyo Kanji characters, there is not enough space for all the possible meaning of each one. But I would recommend this book any time to non-Japanese!