The Key To Kanji: A Visual History of 1100 Characters (English and Japanese Edition)

Consistent work throughout the entire text. Lots of illustrations with as much historical information available. I have not read the introduction, through, yet, but I have followed the free online video series provided by the author. I have also read and successfully learned a few kanji in just a couple sittings, just by reading and paying attention to the stories within this book.(-- Visually imagining the stories and meanings of the parts of the kanji while seeing them/ their illustrations, saying their pronunciations out loud --they are in kana, please learn kana! --, writing them or drawing them out...Do what you can to engage with the text! Passive vocab takes forever! You only truly understand it if you can explain it!If you have trouble with engaging with reading, I recommend How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren. -- Ironically, there is an audiobook to that work, so don't worry.)I say, if you can afford it, get The Key to Kanji. It is clear that a lot of care went into its content. Most of it reads like a storybook, and its indexes are helpful for finding what you need. It even has a history of kana formation, in the front -- which was a pleasant surprise!The physical book has some heft to it and it has a nice cover with a visual description of its contents on its back.In regards to what I have read, in the introduction of this book, I wonder if schools really do use it in their classrooms. If they don't, I think they should. Honestly, the way of rote memorization (basically intensely trying to force a memory through repetition and nothing else. See: high school language classes from the early 2000s to mid 2010s having students rewrite vocab based only on definitions about 100 times a night...) is exhausting.Learn the real stories of the kanji! Historical context and stories do wonders for one's memory, in my opinion. If you do not already have a background living immersed in the Japanese language/ can understand it thoroughly without kanji... I think context (i.e.: history, pronunciation) is a must!If you are a visual learner, enjoy stories and or struggle with kanji, I say get this.I have been studying Japanese for a decade; and, aside from learning kanji in context, learning the truest (that can be stated) backstories of words (etymology) with visualization of their formation... Super useful, imo.If you are interested in the sound based research of kanji, however, though Noriko-sensei wrote about doing such research on that topic in The Key to Kanji (despite not putting said phonetic research within the Key to Kanji book itself, only having had mentioned having done such research, briefly . . . ) another author, Natalie Hamilton, wrote and made a visual compilation of her research on the subject: The Kanji Code. Though that book is an easy read and more compact, it is a bit more linguistics based. I say that one is for people past the beginner levels of Japanese learning.The accessibility level of The Key to Kanji, however, is definitely not super intense. I say if you are willing to put in the work and are patient with your mind, and are willing to learn about how you personally learn/ what works with you . . . you got this!For clarification, I am upper intermediate with my Japanese studies. I am also a self taught learner, (for over a decade. Yes, before Youtube and even the popularity of Myspace... I have gotten quite serious in my studies, recently, and have gone through my fair share of not so great study materials, lol... ).I say, nothing beats cultivating your passive and active learning, also cultural context is key to understanding a language. Don't forget grammar and the other language goodies.Be sure to find natives to speak to, and I HIGHLY recommend a tutor or language exchange partner. If you cannot afford one, please go somewhere like Reddit's Language Exchange forum or HelloTalk and practice internet safety! -- Be sure to offer teaching your language as well, if you go the free route. Try to find an exchange partner with similar interests. :D(If you need help on where to start with Japanese language learning, in general:Tofugu's website has amazing guides for where to start with things like learning Japanese, reading in the language, kanji, dictionaries, so on. (Most of the site is archived, so if it ever absconds from the face of the earth, check something like the Wayback Machine!)Be sure to be well rounded in your studies and start at an appropriate level!Also, please be wary of places that only seek to sell you things but never show you results/ have iffy research!Also, please know what your goals are. Find the stuff that works and works for you, and stick to them. More does not equal better!)100%: understanding that one does not know everything out the gate and also that native speakers are indispensable in the learning process really helps. (Be one with the ways of the student. ^^) Also, people are just people, cultures are different, and some things just don't work out, and that's okay!There are not a lot of English based works on Japanese that take the cultural Japanese mindset into mind, or that have such detailed historical research done on the topic Japanese kanji... So I really do say this book, The Key to Kanji, is pretty indispensable to me, personally.Finally, please be sure to support educators and creators when you can! Especially when they have helped you out! :3Thanks for reading and happy learning! :D

I have been studying Japanese for many years, and I have purchase many, many books on all aspects of learning the language. I've taken two years of college Japanese and numerous supplemental classes, and, I have to say, this is my favorite book on Kanji. It is a reference book, not a how-to-learn-kanji book. It can be used by any level of learner. It's written in a casual style that I find refreshing after reading, so many, "dry" books on Japanese. I have found learning the historical origin and construction of the Kanji characters to be not only fascinating, but also a good way to remember their meaning. Over the years I have returned to this book again and again. You will need other books, and one-on-one teaching, to master Kanji, but if you have any interest in the historical basis of Kanji, and you should, this is a must have book!

I absolutely love this book and consider it a must-have for learning Chinese characters (hanzi/kanji). Each character has a little description of the history of the character, and if it's made up of more than 1 radical (radicals are the building blocks of complex character, like latin root word in English), it notes which radicals this character uses and how they combine to make illustrate the concept that this character represents. Once you know this history of the character, it becomes much easier to remember its meaning. Everyone I've talked to who's tried to learn Japanese say they got stuck on learning kanji because the characters are so complicated and you have to force yourself to memorize them. Using resources like this one that help you break down the character and visualize what it means make this process so much easier and funner.

I had originally started with the "Remembering the Kanji" series by James W. Heisig, and while I enjoyed familiarizing myself with the different particles that make up kanji, I wasn't learning pronunciation or actual history but rather creating my own stories.The Key to Kanji is everything the previously mentioned series isn't. You get a simplified breakdown of how the kanji originated, pronunciation, example words and more. It appears the pages are layed out to look like reference / flash cards, and I think I'd prefer having cards instead of the book. No doubt the pages will be pretty worn out by the time I'm done with it.

Great visuals to help learn the kanji.

The basic premise of the book is that if you know the meaning of the kanji it will help you remember it.As there were some kanki I was struggling with i thought it was worth a try,(I have tried the Remember the kanji route and it didn't gel with me).I found it worked with some, but anything remotely complicated, there was such a difference between the hand written originals and the final kanji, and what it came to be used for that it was of limited use.It was also a bother to look up in the back, where the kanji was , as I was learning them in JLPT N5/N4 order, and not the order in the book.In the end I found a website and it was easier to copy and paste and look them up.I found out later the author has a website with more details google Noriko Kurosawa Williams kanjiportraits ,with a course based on the book, and also has some free video pods on istore.

I bought this book to help me out with kanji and was looking forward to its arrival. My initial feeling on receiving it was to feel a bit let down as this "new" book in "perfect condition" was creased and damaged having been sent in a soft envelope through the post. I will not be using that supplier (DailyDeal UK) ever again.The book itself however is excellent and exactly what I was after. I've not read through it all but can see that it is well organised and brings a new perspective to the characters. If you are attempting to learn kanji then this should help.

This is a very interesting and informative book, for people who wish to learn Kanji.However the book is expensive.

i'm an Italian guy and i'm studying japanese since last year. Unfortunately i don't have much time, so my progress is still slow. I specially had some troubles in remembering kanji, simply because i didn't know how to "really" relate to them.This book is marvelous ! Now they are not a bunch of lines, abstract and obscure. Each one has its own history and i find easier to understand and memorize them since, knowing the development of each kanji, it helps me a lot.Dr. Noriko Kurosawa Williams did a great job and i hope there will be soon another book for the kanji non included in this volume.The introduction is well written and very interesting, there are more indexes that will give you the possibility to immediately find the kanji you're looking for, even for me that surely i could not be esteemed as a "kanji master".The kanji's reference tables are perfect, any information you need is there.I really hope that a second book will be printed soon.

Very interesting to read if you are into kanjis.