LESSON NOTES · レッスンノート

N5Start here · Oct 4, 2026

How to memorize kanji: learn words, see the parts, and stop collecting readings

The fastest way to memorize kanji is to learn each one inside a real word, break it into the parts you already know, and review it a few days later before you forget it. Do not memorize every reading of a kanji on its own; learn the reading that comes with the word.

Most people who give up on kanji were not lazy. They were following a method that fights the way kanji work: a card with one character on the front and five readings and six meanings on the back. That card is almost impossible to remember, and even when you remember it, it does not help you read a sentence. This post is the approach I use with learners instead. It is not a trick that makes kanji free, but it makes each one cost much less.

How do you memorize kanji?

Why does learning kanji one by one fail?

Because a kanji's reading depends on the word it is in, so a reading list without words is a list of guesses. Take 日にち. It is read ひ in 日にち (sun, day), に in 日本にほん (Japan), にち in 毎日まいにち (every day), and か in 三日みっか (the third). Memorize those four as a list and you still cannot tell which one a new word uses.

毎日まいにち、日本語にほんごを勉強べんきょうします。 — I study Japanese every day. (polite, 日にち read にち and に in one sentence)

Learn 毎日まいにち as a word and 日本にほん as a word, and the readings come along for free, attached to something you can use. That is the first rule: the word is the unit, not the character.

How do the parts help?

Most kanji are built from smaller pieces, and the pieces repeat. Once you know a few dozen common parts, a new kanji stops being a tangle of lines and becomes two or three things you recognize.

Kanji Parts A story to remember it
休きゅう (休やすむ, to rest) 人ひと person + 木き tree a person leaning on a tree, resting
明めい (明あかるい, bright) 日にち sun + 月がつ moon sun and moon together, bright
好こう (like) 女おんな woman + 子こ child a mother holding a child, love
男おとこ (man) 田た rice field + 力ちから power power in the field, the old picture of a man
森もり (forest) 木き tree × 3 many trees

木の下きのしたで休やすみました。 — I rested under a tree. (polite, the picture inside 休きゅう)

Not every story is historically accurate, and that is fine. A memory hook only has to work for you. The part-names, though, are real, and you will see 人ひと, 木き, 日にち, 口くち and 女おんな inside hundreds of characters.

How often should you review?

Review a new word the next day, then a few days later, then a week or two after that. Each time you remember it just before forgetting, the memory lasts longer. This is called spaced repetition, and apps like Anki schedule it for you.

The card that works best is simple: the word in kanji on the front, the reading and meaning on the back. 毎日まいにち on the front, まいにち — every day on the back. If you want to start right now, the vocabulary block at the end of nearly every post on this blog is formatted to paste straight into Anki.

Beyond the basics

Is there a pattern to on and kun readings?

A rough one: kanji in compounds tend to use the on reading, and a kanji standing alone with hiragana after it tends to use the kun reading.

山やまに登のぼる。 — To climb a mountain. (neutral, 山やま alone = やま, kun reading) 富士山ふじさんはきれいです。 — Mount Fuji is beautiful. (polite, 山やま in a name compound = さん, on reading)

It is a tendency, not a law. 日本にほん and 毎日まいにち follow it; words like 手紙てがみ (てがみ) break it. But it lets you make a good first guess, and a good guess plus one look in the dictionary is how readings become automatic. Our post on the three writing systems explains where the two reading types come from.

Do some parts tell you the sound?

Yes, and this is the most underused shortcut in kanji study. Many kanji are one part for meaning and one part for sound. When a kanji contains 青あお, it is often read せい:

晴せい (せい in 快晴かいせい), 清きよし (せい), 精せい (せい), 請せい (せい) — the 青あお part often signals せい in compounds

Other common sound parts: 生せい (せい) in 性せい and 姓せい, 同どう (どう) in 銅どう and 胴どう, 反はん (はん) in 飯めし and 版はん. The meaning part sits beside it: 日にち (sun) in 晴せい for weather, 米こめ (rice) in 精せい for refined things. Once you spot this, a new kanji with a familiar sound part becomes a strong guess instead of a blank.

Should you learn to write kanji by hand?

Decide by your goal. If you want to read manga and type messages, recognition matters far more than handwriting, because your phone writes the kanji for you. If you are preparing for school in Japan or want to write cards by hand, writing practice is worth it.

漢字かんじは読よめますが、書かけません。 — I can read kanji, but I can't write them. (polite, extremely common among learners, and natives say it too)

Writing a kanji a few times does help you notice its parts. Writing it a hundred times does not help a hundred times more. If you type, our guide to typing in Japanese covers choosing the right kanji from the suggestions.

How do anime and manga help with kanji?

Manga for younger readers prints small hiragana, called ふりがな, beside most or all of the kanji. That means you can read a page you could not otherwise read, and each time you see a kanji with its reading, it is one more review for free.

このマンガはふりがなが付ついています。 — This manga has furigana. (polite, the best thing to look for in a shop)

Many popular shonen series are printed this way. Pair that with the subtitle method for anime and you are seeing the same kanji in two places, which is exactly what spaced repetition wants.

What about kanji that look almost the same?

Put look-alikes side by side on purpose, and learn what is different.

Pair Difference
未み / 末まつ 未み (not yet) has the short top line; 末まつ (end) has the long top line
土つち / 士さむらい 土つち (earth) has the long bottom line; 士さむらい (samurai, person) has the long top line
人ひと / 入にゅう in 人ひと (person) the left stroke reaches the top; in 入にゅう (enter) the right stroke does
待たい / 持じ 彳てき (going) in 待たい (wait); 扌(hand) in 持じ (hold)

The last pair shows the parts idea again. 扌is a hand, so 持じ (hold), 打だ (hit) and 押おす (push) all use your hands.

Common mistakes

  • Memorizing every reading of a kanji at once. Learn the reading that comes with each word, one word at a time.
  • Studying kanji without words. A kanji you can name but cannot read in a word is not yet useful.
  • Adding too many new cards a day. Reviews pile up and you quit. Fewer new cards, every day, beats a big burst.
  • Ignoring the parts. Treating 休きゅう as a random shape makes it ten times harder than 人ひと + 木き.
  • Spending hours on handwriting you do not need. Match the practice to your goal.

Quick comparison

Method What it gives you Good for
Learning words, not single kanji the correct reading in context everyone, from day one
Breaking kanji into parts a hook for the shape remembering new kanji
Sound parts (青あお, 生せい, 同どう) a good guess at on readings intermediate learners
Spaced repetition long-term memory daily review
Manga with ふりがな free review in context reading practice
Handwriting attention to detail school, handwritten goals

Practice

Try each answer yourself before opening it. Questions 3 and 4 are a pair: one kanji, two readings, decided by the word.

1. What two parts make up 休きゅう, and what is a simple story for it?

Show answer

人ひと + 木き — a person leaning on a tree, resting.

2. What two parts make up 明めい (bright)?

Show answer

日にち + 月がつ — sun and moon, the two brightest things in the sky.

3. How is 山やま read in 山やまに登のぼる?

Show answer

やま — 山やま standing alone takes the kun reading.

4. How is 山やま read in 富士山ふじさん?

Show answer

さん — in the name compound it takes the on reading. This is the pair to question 3.

5. How do you read 毎日まいにち, and what does it mean?

Show answer

まいにち, every day — learn it as a word, and 日にち's reading にち comes with it.

6. 晴せい, 清きよし and 精せい share one part. Which part, and what sound does it often signal?

Show answer

青あお, often せい — a sound part. 晴はれ (はれ) is the kun reading, but in compounds 晴せい is せい, as in 快晴かいせい.

7. Which means "not yet": 未み or 末まつ?

Show answer

未み — the top line is shorter. 末まつ (end) has the long top line.

8. 持じ (hold) and 待たい (wait) look alike. What part on the left tells you 持じ is about hands?

Show answer

扌 — the hand part. It is also in 打だ (hit) and 押おす (push).

9. What is the small hiragana printed beside kanji in manga called?

Show answer

ふりがな — it shows the reading, so each look is a free review.

10. Say "I can read kanji, but I can't write them" politely.

Show answer

漢字かんじは読よめますが、書かけません — 読よめる and 書かける are the potential forms of 読よむ and 書かく.

Take the kanji you keep forgetting to a trial lesson and learn them inside words and by their parts instead of piling up more readings.

FAQ

How many kanji do I need to know? The official list of kanji for general use, the 常用漢字じょうようかんじ, has 2,136 characters. You do not need all of them to start reading. Learn the ones in the words you meet, and the common ones will come first naturally.

Should I use a kanji textbook or an app? Either works if it teaches kanji inside words and shows the parts. Use one main source and an app for review, not five sources at once.

Is it better to learn by radicals first? Learning a few dozen common parts first helps a lot. Learning all of the traditional radicals before any words is a long detour.

How long does it take to memorize kanji? It depends on your daily time and goal, so any single number would be a guess. What matters more is reviewing a small amount every day without gaps.

Why do I forget kanji I learned last week? Usually because the review came too late, or the card had no word on it. Try word cards and a review the very next day.

Do Japanese people forget kanji too? Yes, especially how to write them, because most writing is now typed. Being able to read is what daily life asks for.

Vocabulary from this article

Tap the block to select all of it, then copy. In Anki: File → Import, note type Basic, separator Tab — the first column becomes the front, the second the back.

漢字	かんじ — kanji
毎日	まいにち — every day
日本	にほん — Japan
休む	やすむ — to rest
明るい	あかるい — bright
森	もり — forest
山	やま — mountain
登る	のぼる — to climb
富士山	ふじさん — Mount Fuji
手紙	てがみ — letter
晴れ	はれ — clear weather
快晴	かいせい — perfectly clear sky
ふりがな	ふりがな — reading aid printed beside kanji
読める	よめる — can read
書ける	かける — can write
常用漢字	じょうようかんじ — kanji for general use

I'm Yuuki, a Japanese teacher based in Tokyo. I've taught on italki as a Top 1% teacher and watched over 1,500 anime, so most of the example sentences on this blog come from lines I've actually heard students ask about. Kanji is the most common reason learners say they are stuck, and most of the fixes in this post are small changes to how they review. For practice with feedback, Book a trial lesson · $13, or work through Japanese practice exercises first.

Sources: the author's own lessons; the 常用漢字表じょうようかんじひょう (Agency for Cultural Affairs, 2010 revision); standard kanji dictionaries.

More drills like the ones above, plus a timed JLPT-style mock test: Practice · N5 · Read something at this level: JLPT N5 stories with audio

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