FACT: A strategy based on sound research can mobilize and compel Kanji to contribute to conversational skills. See The Kanji Way to Japanese Language Power, and start enjoying Kanji today.

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Indexed Kanji References Quick Look-Up Primers Crowley Henshall Classic Nelson New Nelson Halpern Heisig S&H Kanji Dict. H&S Kanji&Kana Sakade 1st Grade Kanji Paper Maker ® 1st Katakana Lesson Tell a friend Web Discussion Board Bibliography/Bookstore Japanese Music Japan Poem Greetings The Kanji Way Kanji Katakana Hiragana Calligraphy Rules Basic Kana Chart Kanji Books Kana Books Software Welcome to the world's most popular website devoted to learning written Japanese. Please join the mailing list for updates on special group purchases of books and software such as The Kanji Way to Japanese Language Power. Originally (in 1996) I set out to create a site focused on the Jôyô, or "General Use" Kanji. I wanted to create a resource which combined etymology, calligraphy, and memory aids, as there were no textbooks as comprehensive as my ambition. At that time there was a general paucity of websites where you could really learn Japanese online. Not a single web based resource taught the stroke order of Chinese characters except for our 1st Grade Kanji section. Nobody then, or now, offered a free course as complete as our 140 page Katakana Lessons. Come the year 2001, and the Internet is bursting with small websites that have put their own spin on this, or that aspect of the "Mother of All Written Japanese Web Sites", and we've been awarded "Best of Field" in several categories by several authorities. Jôyô96 has made a difference. My own journey in learning written Japanese began when I first read Len Walsh's Read Japanese Today. It was a fascinating, and easy to read text on Kanji etymology that seeded my love for the written language. Later on I discovered Henshall's comprehensive A Guide To Remembering The Japanese Characters. As it weaves interlocked threads of logic through the Jôyô Kanji, the ones essential to read a Japanese newspaper or business letter, it forms a story that is both comprehensible, and enjoyable. The Kanji etymologies in Henshall were the single best way for me to understand Chinese characters. It became clear to me that by understanding the meaning attached to shape of the most simple characters in the first and second grade sets, one would begin to understand the meaning of the more difficult Jôyô Kanji of the upper grades, whose radicals had been derived from the preceeding, simpler ideographs. But the absence of stroke order diagrams made using his text incomplete for a novice who had never drawn a Japanese character before. My thinking was that reading should be learned concomitant with writing, and thus added stroke order diagrams to the Kanji tutorials. Later I added Quicktime movies to show real Japanese calligraphy in process. And then people began to come to the Internet and learn free of charge the very rudiments of Kanji meaning and calligraphy. After mastering the most simple characters, they could progress to a more comprehensive text based learning regime, but with a solid foundation in the fundamentals. The user could then more richly profit from these great textbooks. Ones that we introduce here. Thousands of people have used Jôyô96 to master the most simple and frequently used Kanji, and thousands have graduated on to the more advanced, text based learning methods. Since 1999, Remembering the Kanji I by Jim Heisig has been the most purchased text, followed closely by Henshall. But the popularity of some texts is starting to skyrocket, and if we only look at purchases made in the last quarter, Tuttle Kanji Cards has nudged Henshall aside for the number two position. And recently, Kodansha's Furigana Japanese Dictionary is threatening to overtake the top position, being this quarters most purchased study aid. The top 5 most popular text books purchased by Jôyô96 users can be summarized by this table: During 2001 Since 1999 Remembering the Kanji I Tuttle Kanji Cards Henshall* Basic Japanese Through Comics Kodansha's Furigana Japanese Dictionary Remembering the Kanji I Henshall* Kanji & Kana Tuttle Kanji Cards Basic Japanese Through Comics Later, in 1999, I added the first version of the Katakana Tutorial, adopted for the Internet from the classic Japanese text book Reading Japanese by Eleanor Jorden. A new version which includes the Hiragana lessons will be online within a few weeks. A perl driven Japanese Paper Maker ® was added as well that allowed people to create their own templates to practice calligraphy of the Katakana, Hiragana, and first 150 Kanji. This perl engine will be more widely used in the future to create calligraphy lessons revolving around vocabulary words and phrases. I'm also extremely proud of the new Japan Poem Greetings website. These are perhaps the most sophisticated electronic greeting cards on the world wide web, and allow the user to create the greeting from their own choice of 100 ancient imperial court poems, sounds and pictures, complete with Java special effects. First: Learn disciplined Japanese calligraphy by practice writing within grids as Japanese schoolchildren do, with Paper Maker ®. You can also use it to make posters and proofs for business cards, etc.. Ask a question or provide an answer on our Web Discussion Board yet? You like this web site, but did you Tell a friend yet? Let them know about Jôyô96 with this handy "press release" tool. We don't want you to have to search for us ever again. Drag this link-> Joyo 96 <- onto the Links Toolbar (View > Toolbars > Links) and you'll get a button. Or right-click on the link and select "Add to Favorites" Support the Kanji Study Group when you buy Japanese books through our Bookstore. If your looking for challenging material to practice the spoken side of the language, try the same course Eleanor Jordon taught at Yale with Mastering Japanese. Comes with 10 CD's full of speaking and grammar lessons, and text book. A less expensive alternative, albeit with much less material, is Japanese Complete Course: (Living Language Complete Courses. Compact Disc Edition) by Living Language. Mac Users who have the Japanese Language Kit and Hypercard: here are free Japanese lessons from the University of Minnesota. Mastering the Kana Scripts As resources permit, visit the Kana Books section to build up the strength of your Japanese library. Again, if your resources permit, acquire Jorden's book Reading Japanese (Hiragana Lessons are not yet online and can be found in the book). Print out this Basic Kana Chart (print in portrait mode) for reference and study. Macintosh users can also increase their Kana recognition speed with Kana Lab. (Shareware - No JLK needed) Master the Katakana first! Read this primer About Katakana. Begin to work through these online Katakana lessons, based on Ms. Eleanor Jorden's Reading Japanese: [Lesson 1] [Lesson 2] [Lesson 3] [Lesson 4] There are 144 pages of Katakana lessons available on this web site; by far the most complete Katakana tutor on the Internet. If desired, acquire this Katakana Wall Chart Macintosh users can reinforce learning of the Basic Kana Chart and Katakana Wall Chart with Katakana Tutor 2.0 (No JLK needed) Master the Hiragana After Conquering the Katakana Read this primer About Hiragana. Macintosh users can reinforce learning of the Basic Kana Chart with Hiragana Tutor 2.0 (No JLK needed) Mastering the Jôyô Kanji As resources permit, visit the Kanji Books department of our site to build up the strength of your Japanese library.  Books are organized within categories by price to match your budget. Read this primer About Kanji. Its not enough just to recognize Kanji.  You also need to know how the rules for properly rendering them.  Read About Calligraphy, so your writing will be correct. Now your ready to begin the most challenging adventure of the Japanese language!  Let's work through the study of the first Kanji to demonstrate the approach: Master the Kanji in Grade Order, i.e. Grade 1, and then Grade 2, etc. The Kanji are grouped in Lessons of 15 characters.  For each group, print out the preset Paper Maker ® and practice your calligraphy: Set 1 Set 2 Set 3 Set 4 Set 5 Set 6 Set 7 Set 8 Set 9 Set 10 Each Kanji page contains etymological information on what the shape of the character represents. If you are using Netscape, a movie will be downloading while you study the page. If you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer, click on the spyglass button to download the movie into the page. Sometimes the movie number above the spyglass does not correspond to the kanji number you are studying. If that occurs, hit "reset movie" to bring the proper spyglass into the page. Currently the Grade 2 set of Kanji is not fully uploaded.  To continue study of characters beyond those currently uploaded to Jôyô 96 acquire A Guide To Remembering The Japanese Characters by Professor Kenneth Henshall.  You will find the same order used in Jôyô 96, with more complete etymology (history of the character) covering the entire Jôyô Kanji set, example compounds, and on the fly cross-references to other characters. Macintosh users who have acquired the Japanese Language Kit can also download a powerful electronic dictionary called MacJDic 1.3.4.  This program requires the following files from Jim Breen's FTP server at Monash University in Australia: EDICT, the same dictionary that powers WWWJDIC. KANJIDICT, which contain information about individual Kanji such as its Critical Kanji Reference index numbers for quick lookup and reference in any of these Kanji dictionaries. Macgzip1.0, a utility to handle .gz type compressed files. Un-zip 5.12, a utility for undoing .zip type compressed archives.