Published Texts and Materials

Kanji in Context was written with the needs of intermediate and advanced learners of Japanese in mind, and the content is presented in a manner that facilitates progress in stages, enabling learners to understand all the everyday use kanji.

As a text specifically for intermediate and advanced students, Kanji in Context does not place the emphasis on learning the basic forms of kanji, as is necessary at the elementary stage of Japanese language study. Rather, it takes a proactive approach to introduction of intermediate- and advanced-level language, focusing on readings of kanji and examples of their usage, even when presenting characters that should have been learned at the elementary level.

Instead of proceeding by simply adding more and more characters to be learned, we make clear in this text that the ultimate objective is to understand all of the everyday use kanji, and we present specific sequential steps for the attainment of that goal. The term “everyday use kanji ” refers to the table of characters that was established by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, as revised in 2010; these are the characters that are considered standard for writing the Japanese language that is used today in official documents, newspapers, magazines, books, and other media that employ writing. Mastering these everyday use kanji is the goal of the education provided in schools for native speakers of Japanese, as well, and it can be said that achieving mastery is acquiring a power equivalent to that possessed by educated native speakers. If one has an understanding of all the everyday use kanji, one becomes able to infer the readings and the meanings of nearly all of the kanji that appear in Japanese writing. In Kanji in Context, we have set mastery of all the everyday use kanji as the final goal-a goal we believe is appropriate for intermediate- and advanced-level students-and we lay out a concrete program for achievement of that goal.

At the intermediate level and above, the number of kanji needed by learners rises sharply. In order to effectively meet this growing need, it is not adequate to learn each new character randomly; rather, it is also necessary to study the systematic connections that lie behind kanji and kanji -based vocabulary. In general, there are three basic elements to kanji: form, sound, and meaning. Form refers to the principles behind the structure of kanji (the components and their positions within a character); sound to the shared connections and similarities in the readings of particular kanji, as based on their components; and meaning to the underlying system of meaning in kanji, as based on their components.

These three elements are organically intertwined within the kanji, and a proper knowledge of them will not only bring a dramatic increase in the speed at which new kanji and vocabulary are digested, but will also foster the ability to infer the meaning and reading of previously unencountered kanji vocabulary.

If one learns kanji simply by studying them one by one in the order of frequency with which they are used, it becomes an exercise in learning individual characters. Connections between kanji are ignored, and it is difficult to understand that kanji belong to a system. In this main volume of Kanji in Context, the order of presentation of characters has been arranged to facilitate learners' natural acquisition of information about the system of form, sound, and meaning of those characters.

In addition to the acquisition of new kanji, it is also important for intermediate and advanced learners to learn new vocabulary words that incorporate those kanji and the correct usage of those words. However, traditional kanji textbooks have focused excessively on the study of characters one by one, providing only a sprinkling of vocabulary words, which, more often than not, have little practical use for learners.

In contrast, this text goes beyond mere study of kanji to include the acquisition of vocabulary as one of its objectives. Thus the main book contains an abundant collection of essential vocabulary words, all of which have been selected with the different stages of learning in mind. Moreover, the usage of the vocabulary in the main book can be learned in context through the example sentences and related words in both volumes of the workbook.

In the majority of kanji textbooks, each kanji or word is presented only once, an approach based on the assumption that it will be fully mastered at the time it appears. However, a single presentation does not guarantee that the character or word will be effectively acquired by the learner. For this reason, the same target vocabulary and related words are repeatedly presented in Kanji in Context, and the frequent contact with a particular kanji or word reinforces its acquisition. At the same time, to the extent we could, we have limited the presentation of items that have not been previously studied, and in instances when it has been necessary to present such items, we have made an effort to keep the burden on the learner as light as possible. For example, in the workbook, we have added furigana to words and kanji that have not previously been studied. Also, in the exercises in the workbook, we have as a rule not included words that incorporate previously unstudied kanji.

Gaining an understanding of basic words and the system of everyday use kanji, and then at the next stage expanding vocabulary while reviewing the basic words, students will be able to make orderly progress through these textbooks, with each stage building upon the previous stage.

Step 1: Acquire a fundamental knowledge of the kanji entries

Fully memorize the forms of the kanji that are studied and the meaning and reading of the key words (words printed in red) in the main book and the kanji from which they are composed. This study gives you a fundamental knowledge of the kanji.

Step 2: Learn the meaning and usage of the kanji entries

Go over the vocabulary listed for each entry in the main book to learn the meaning and usage of the kanji. Further, when you are advancing your learning by at first confining yourself only to key words (printed in red), there is no need at this time to memorize the words that are not printed in red.

Step 3: Study the usage of the vocabulary and learn related words

Study the way kanji words that you learned, and study the way they are used and related words in the workbook. When you are focusing on key words (printed in red) only, study just the items that are marked by white numbers printed within black circles. Words printed in bold type are key vocabulary words, and you should make certain you memorize their meanings, their readings, and the way in which they are used. If you do not understand something, please go back to the main book and learn it.

Step 4: Check your mastery

Double-check to make certain that you have learned the key vocabulary words. Having your Japanese teacher or a friend make simple quizzes for you or making flashcards are among the effective ways to review. Another way that is useful for confirming your mastery is to try to create your own sentences containing the words in the workbook.

Continuing systematically to follow these four steps, go through the workbook until you have completed all 156 units. When you finish, you will have approximately 3,700 key words in your vocabulary. By mastering all of these, you will be able to read, or at least to infer the meanings and readings of, the vast majority of the kanji that appear in everyday Japanese written materials such as newspapers and magazines.

In Stage II, you will be expanding and strengthening your stock of vocabulary words that incorporate the kanji you have learned. Go back to Unit 1 of the main book, and as you review key vocabulary words, follow the four steps described in Stage I, above, to gain mastery of the unmarked words (that is, the words that are not marked with the symbols ◇, 「歴」 or 「特」). When you reach Stage II you will have already learned all of the Joyo Kanji, and at this stage you should also study the words in this book that contain characters you have not previously learned, which we have marked with an asterisk (＊). Please note that because not all these unmarked words are treated in the workbook, we have limited the list of such words by selecting words that are important to know but somewhat difficult to use. Although the number of such words is larger than the number of key vocabulary words, you will find that you master them faster than the key vocabulary words because you have already acquired knowledge of the forms and readings of the Joyo Kanji. Continuing to follow this procedure, go through the main book until you have completed all 156 units.

In the third and final stage, you will begin again at Unit 1 and learn the words marked with the symbols ◇, 「歴」 and 「特」. These words are considered to have relatively low importance, and generally they are not treated in the workbook (exceptionally, a few words marked ◇ do appear in the workbook). It will be sufficient for you to check the main book and to learn these words as needed to deal with the materials you choose to read. Please be aware, however, that if you wish to attain total mastery of 100% of the readings of Joyo Kanji, you will need to be able to read all of these words.