THE KEY TO ALL JOYO KANJI: A Study Guide Using Common Shapes and Ancient Characters 字源と共通形による常用漢字の学習ガイド

This book is a study guide/reference intended to make learning and remembering kanji more efficient by grouping kanji that share the same components among the 2,136 Japanese Joyo kanji (常用漢字 Commonly-used kanji). Most kanji are comprised of recurring components. Wherever the same component appears, its core meaning and/or sound are the same or closely related to other kanji that have the same component because they were derived from the same origins (字源). This book explains those origins, going back to ancient times, and shows how they developed into present-day Japanese kanji. Within each common shape group (共通形グループ), kanji are labeled with a level of difficulty – A (easiest) to D (most challenging). The reader can start or review with the easiest level and move to more challenging kanji while also reinforcing knowledge of previously learned kanji within the same common shape group. (Some typos corrected. May 2025)Each of the 2,136 Kanji Tables contains the following items:＊ English core meaning, kun and on reading, traditional bushu (“radical”), full stroke order illustration, and total stroke number＊ Four suggested levels of kanji study, roughly corresponding to the five levels of the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) – Level A (566 kanji) – Beginning level [JLPT N5 and N4]; Level B (525 kanji) – Intermediate through Pre-advanced [JLPT N3 and N4]; Level C (520 kanji) – Advanced I level [JLPT N1]; and Level D (525 kanji) – Advanced II level [JLPT N1]＊ 4,500 ancient characters (in oracle bone-style 甲骨文, bronzeware-style 金文, and seal-style 篆文), allowing the reader to visualize and grasp the development of the kanji.＊ Succinct English accounts linking its origin to present-day Japanese kanji.＊ Several sample words and an accentual tonal fall marker in standard Japanese.＊ Four indices: Index 1 The Order of Kanji in the book (by the Study Guide number) 導入順漢字表; Index 2 Kanji by On and Kun Reading (in Japanese Syllabary Order) 音訓読みによる漢字表 (五十音順); Index 3 Kanji by Total Stroke Number 総画数による漢字表; and Index 4 Kanji by Traditional Bushu 部首による漢字表 Read more