Teaching English in Japan

Students in Japan write explanations of the meanings of their Japanese names. All of the kanji is given in caligraphy-style images.

An on-line Java flashcard program for studying and testing yourself on kanji, including on-yomi, kun-yomi and meaning tests.

Converts Gregorian calendar years (such as 2004) to Japanese Emperor Era years (such as Heisei 16). Includes the kanji characters.

A student project explains Japanese names. A good primer about Kanji names for those new to the subject as well as those who study the meaning of kanji characters.

Portal dedicated to Sudoku with Kanji/Hanzi (by topics & by shape). Wide range of free Japanese language learning materials: Kana & Kanji writing sheets (pdf), Kana crossword puzzles (pdf), online Kanji match games. Hiragana Sudoku with Japanese proverbs (pdf), interactive Jap.-Engl. Kanji crossword puzzles (JLPT-L4). Download of first free (GPL) Sudoku with Chinese characters for mobile devices (M-Kanji-SuDoKu). Kanji desktop wallpaper, eBooks.

Selected textbooks, dictionaries and reference books for learning Japanese language, including conversation, kanji and kana.

Recommended books for learning Japanese, including conversation, kanji, idioms and dictionaries.

Free on-line English/Japanese Japanese/English dictionary. Searches can be either based upon English, romaji, or raw Japanese. Searches result in the listing of pairs of related Japanese and English translation. Choose to view kanji as images (if your computer doesn't accept Japaense) or as Japanese text.

Jim Breen's overview of Japanese writing systems. Briefly outlines romaji, kana and kanji.

Good-sized pictures of both sides of each Japanese bill and coin. The kanji you see in the watermark portion of each bill is 'mihon', which means 'sample'.

Rikai's Kanji Cards site is a free study tool that's highly configurable to your own study level. For example, you can filter the cards shown to only the most common 500 kanji, and you can change the cards so that they show English and Kana, compounds and more. Not an on-line quiz -- you see the card, and then you flip it over. If it's a card you know, you move it to your known pile. Ones you don't know, you can put into your miss deck and you'll see them again, even on your next visit.

A brief look at learning the Japanese language. Includes links to further information on expressions, kanji, kana and new Japanese .