Kanji Look and Learn: 512 Kanji with Illustrations and Mnemonic Hints

by Eri Banno, Yoko Ikeda, Chikako Shinagawa

This kanji textbook uses illustrations and mnemonic hints to make it easy for learners to memorize the shapes and meanings of 512 basic kanji JLPT levels N5–N3.
Also included are some 3,500 words incorporating the kanji studied.

- The illustrations and mnemonic hints in English enable even learners new to kanji to readily master the shapes and meanings of the characters presented.
- Users can quickly look up the basic information for each kanji (meaning, reading, and stroke count/order), plus approx. 3,500 essential beginning/intermediate words written with the kanji, and the meanings of those words.
- Key elementary-level words are specially marked to facilitate self-study.
- This book can also function as a kanji dictionary, as the various indexes provided at the end allow users to immediately find the characters and words they need.
- The companion workbook (sold separately) helps users to learn kanji and words in the context of sentences and longer text.

Genres: Japanese Literature, Language, Nonfiction, Japan, Reference, Textbooks

272 pages, Paperback

First published April 24, 2009

Reviews

[S.Baqer Al-Meshqab · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though I am finally done with this book, it will always be my first reference for reviewing and restudying the Japanese Kanji. It will not be entirely shelved, for trying to memorize 512 Chinese characters is no easy task.

The book is good for beginners in the Kanji world. For each letter there is a story with an illustration to help students remember it. Sometimes the stories are silly and not good enough. However, you can come up with your own story, and that is particularly where the beauty of studying Kanji lies. It would have been more beneficial if the historical background of the letter was discussed, but it might have resulted in a more complicated mnemonic. Also, all the letters that are close in shape or could have been mistaken with are listed together, and therefore can be studied side by side. Most common readings are in bold style, and the book also presents several indexes to summarize the 512 Kanji, to connect them together, and list all possible words learnt throughout the entire book.


Welcome to the World of Kanji, and beware, the journey is only about to start.

[Maryam Eldesoky · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first intended to finish this book in 2 weeks (two lessons a day) because I have previous knowledge of most of the characters introduced, but later of course I realized that it was impossible. It has taken me 2 months and a half to finish it, which is not exactly a long period, keeping in mind that I study Japanese in my free time while doing other things. It's an immensely useful book and I recommend to all those studying Genki or those simply wishing to have a good grasp of elementary Kanji. I'll make sure to regularly review what I learned.

[Reem]

A lot of hard work has been put into the making of this book. The mnemonics used are simple yet clever and creative. It is a textbook comprehensive enough to depend on as a primary Kanji learning resource.

I wonder how long it will take me to get to Kanji number 500!

[Jennie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't remember if I ever totally finished this one as I passed it on to a fellow Tokyo resident when I returned to the U.S. But it was super helpful and I did pass the N4 level of the JLPT in 2014, so it was definitely an effective resource. I also used a number of apps to learn kanji, I'm not sure if the main one I used is still available but I've heard good things about wani kani and kanji garden.

[Henrik · Rating 4 out of 5]

bra för inlärning av grundläggande kanjitecken, inte så bra till så mycket annat men då det är ett extremt fall av "du får vad du köper" så borde du ändå inte förvänta dig något annat. tipsen är hjälpsamma.

[Sorrowka · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's fun to learn throughout this book. I was floundering on block for forgetting what I have learnt before, it's frustating to re-learn again back to the beginning (this happened twice already. and since i have poor memory capacity). Of course memorizing kanji can be tricky when you step out further.

this book has compiled Mnemonic for each strokes, conjured into a story, which makes sense and easy to remember! There are also warnings at which kanji are confounding, or a connection with another. But i wouldn't really suggest to memorize the whole vocabularies in each kanji, hence the book gives a black block which kanji is common-used. You might also consider to memorize vocabularies based on each JLPT level



Owh!! another interesting thing is that there's the list of the basis kanji part, which underpined the other structures (pg. 26-27). Inside can be a compilation of the kanji that has that similar basis part.


In the last pages, the list can be used kanji dictionary.

[Julianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book for beginners. If you've memorized all the hiragana and katakana and want to move on to basic Kanji, i recommend that you read this book together with the Japanese grammar book you're currently reading. There are English translations and easy-to-understand illustrations for each kanji (though sometimes i wonder how they came up with those drawings).

[Natasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Over the course of the year, this kanji book has helped me memorize some new kanji. The drawings were memorable and I found some very funny. This book is effective if you review the words as many times as you can (daily, for example). I used this book in class, so I was regularly tested for kanji. A problem I encountered was forgetting the kanji by the next class because I didn't review it enough. So if you have the will power to continuously review the kanji, I'm sure that all the kanji could be easily memorized. I would recommend this book for those with intermediate level Japanese.

[Josh Hatch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very good beginner textbook for Kanji. My only issues are that some of the vocabulary definitions are quite ambiguous and some of the selected vocabulary is quite obscure. Additionally, while the main focus of the book is on the mnemonics, i stopped using them from about a third of the way in.
It is a shame though that it only covers roughly 500 kanji as the format is very user friendly.

[Jp escort agency TG：Chi669]

Hi there! I’m Shizuka, your nightlife expert in Japan~ I specialize in arranging top-notch companionship services

Business hours are from 2 pm to 2 am the following day
Welcome to Japan for business trip and enjoy the dating experience with Japanese girls

Service area: Japanese hotels

Gleezy：tea669
Telegram: qin669
Line: 669jp
Girls: https://t.me/Shizuka670
Website：www.av699jp.com

[Jota · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best kanji book for beginners. Covers almost everything for N3 and all N4 and N5 levels.

[Thang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally, I finished it after 20 months.

[Jenni · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Japanese course covered six chapters from this book and I learned 80 kanjis. Since I can Chinese I already know them since I was a kid :D

[Javier González · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a pretty good book to create your own mnemonics. Even if the illustration is way too mind-boggling, it will help you create a rule set that can be applied to other Kanjis with the same radicals.