The Kanji character collection is used as part of the Japanese writing system, and it can seem quite daunting as you set out on the long road of learning Japanese.

We’ve tried and tested several online Japanese courses in an attempt to work out which is the best for learning this Kanji language, but the results are truly mixed. First we must ask the question, why is the Kanji character set so difficult to learn?

Well that would depend on how comprehensively you’re planning on learning it.

To put things in perspective, we can tell you that Japanese children are expected to learn a pool of 1006 Kanji symbols by the time they’ve finished Elementary School. These 1006 symbols compare to over 50,000 that make up the entire Kanji collection. Tip of the iceberg does the subject no justice!

However, in the same way that you don’t have to be proficient in Shakespeare to be competent in English, you don’t have to know the entire Kanji set to be capable of writing and understanding Japanese.

When you start to learn Japanese, you should aim to cover the basics of Kanji, but it’s not a good idea to get too bogged down in trying to learn too much too quickly. Many courses come with flash card memorizing games, and we believe these to be some of the best methods around for establishing your knowledge of the Kanji basics.

Don’t assume that you’ll have to splash out for a course though. Why not make your own Kanji learning set?

Simply cut up some cards, or draw on the back of a blank playing deck. Set yourself some realistic targets and try to learn - say - 30 at a time. Keep Kanji symbols on the back of your mind and study them for 10 or 15 minutes before you go to bed. This is proven to be one of the most effective times to study.

Here’s a rundown of the Kanji lists, from most basic to advanced.

Kyōiku kanji

This list can almost be seen as a start-up pack for the Kanji set. It consists of all the basic symbols that an elementary student - as we mentioned - would be expected to learn through school. The Kyōiku kanji is a good, if slightly excessive, list for people just getting started. There are 1006 characters in this set, and it hasn’t been altered since an additional 200 characters were added in 1981.

Jōyō kanji

The Jōyō kanji combines all of the characters that you’d expect to find in the Kyōiku kanji with an additional 939 symbols - it’s set to gain 10 more kanji by 2010 with changes being made to the current list.

Native Japanese students are expected to learn the full Jōyō kanji set by the end of high school, so it should be seen as a good marker of progress if you can eventually learn the collection.

Jinmeiyō kanji

As we move on to the Jinmeiyō kanji, we’re really getting somewhere. This kanji list includes every symbol preceding it in the Jōyō kanji. But it also throws in an extra 983 characters that are primarily used to represent Japanese names. It’s worth noting that in some schools, the Jinmeiyō kanji refers only to the 983 that are used in the names. It doesn’t always include the rest of the Jōyō kanji.

Hyōgaiji

The vast Hyōgaiji character group combines all of the kanji that aren’t listed in either the Jinmeiyō kanji or the Jōyō kanji lists. They use mainly traditional characters, but there are many many extensions to learn if you hope to have a full working knowledge.

The Hyōgaiji list isn’t focused on so heavily through Japanese high schools, although it’s arguably just as important to learn in the long run.

As you can see, learning the Kanji lists is one of the fundamental challenges of learning Japanese altogether. While it’s certainly not a feat that can be achieved overnight, there are many useful memory working courses out there - some free, some paid - and these are brilliant for getting to grips with kanji.

Welcome to Know Your Japanese, a site dedicated to helping you in your quest to learn Japanese.

We believe that the future of learning languages is online, and its with this belief that we bring you some of the very finest online Japanese courses. Programs such as Rocket Japanese aren’t just useful as supplementary learning materials - they’re effective for learning the language from scratch.

By leveraging the power of the Internet and rich social media, it’s never been more possible to learn Japanese. And you can do so at a fraction of the price that you would have paid ten years ago for a weekly class in your local town.

Japanese is truly a wonderful language to learn. With a culture blessed in grace and good will, many people are choosing to study Japanese over the traditional selection of European languages. Career opportunities and traveling ease are just two of many reasons why you should jump at the chance of having this language under your belt.

But most importantly, if you’re planning on learning Japanese, you must be passionate about your goals. It must be something that you want to do, where you can motivate yourself along the way. Learning online is not a shortcut and it still requires the same input of effort as more orthodox studying environments.

We’re here to guide you with some of the best Japanese courses and our own selection of learning tips, tricks and techniques. We hope you enjoy!