An introduction to reading Japanese kanji characters.

When the average person sees Japanese Kanji characters, they usually appreciate the aesthetic beauty associated with them. However, they also usually think that the writing system is complicated and too difficult to learn. After telling someone that I speak Japanese, the comment I normally receive is about how hard it must've been to learn the writing system. But it really wasn't that difficult at all. In fact, Kanji is probably one of the simpler aspects of the Japanese language. Studying Kanji makes it easier to understand new vocabulary and can provide some interesting insights into Japanese culture. While some characters do look very complicated at first glance, they're actually just combinations of simpler pieces.

This web site is an introduction to the way simple Kanji, representing simple ideas, are combined into complex characters, that represent more complex ideas. If you can understand the logic behind the way characters are created, they're much easier to learn and remember.

Many people would never consider studying Kanji, but I'll bet you can learn three characters in about a minute that you'll never forget. If you ever see them again you'll instantly recognize them. Don't believe me? Click here to see if it's possible.