Method
The Kanjimori Method
We break kanji down into their components and trace each character's composition through history.
Here at Kanjimori, we don't teach you to memorize kanji. We help you really understand kanji by teaching you how to break them down into basic parts called "roots". Roots are parts of kanji, or kanji "components", that can't be broken down into smaller components themselves. All 6,000+ kanji used in Japanese are constructed from these roots, so knowing them is best way to fast-track your kanji learning. Roots can often be traced back to pictograms in oracle bone script, the oldest form of Chinese characters. We'll teach you what each root originally represented as a fun and effective way to remember them.
Evolution of Kuruma (車) Root Over Time
In addition to roots that were once pictographs, there's another category of roots we call "roots by corruption". These roots were originally characters made up of multiple roots ("compound characters") but became wonky at some point, causing their components to be unrecognizable. Modern palaeographic research is continually improving our understanding of these roots by corruption, and the origin stories of many have already been uncovered. This aside, roots by corruption are visually distint from their historical components and function effectively the same way as other roots.
To help keep track of component sharing between characters, we provide you with "kanji trees". Kanji trees are tiered structures that link characters based on who inerited components from who, sort of like family trees. At the top of every kanji tree is a root, and with each subsequent tree tier the root is compounded once, twice, and so on with other roots to produce new kanji. Your kanji trees start off small, but they quickly grow with your account level to track all the kanji you're learning.
When a character gains a new component, traits of that component are often passed down as well, such as related meanings or similar pronunciations. It's especially important to notice when pronunciations are passed down, as recognizing these sound-based or "phonetic" relationships is immensely helpful for learning kanji readings and even for guessing a kanji's reading when you haven't learned it yet. Phonetic components are indicated in each kanji tree, so be sure to check for these regularly as your trees grow. Aside from being phonetic, there are a few other categories of components you'll see. Learn more about them in the next section!
Classification
Kanji Component Classification
We classify kanji character components into 7 categories based on their role and historical presence within a character:
A component that lends the kanji a similar reading or sound.
A component that relates to the kanji's meaning.
A component that is present in the kanji both now and historically.
A component that wasn't present in the kanji historically but is now.
A component that was present in the kanji historically but isn't now.
A component that appears to be present in the kanji but arises from misparsing strokes.
A group of strokes that appears to be a component because of visual stylization but isn't one.
Check out the site's glossary for more information on kanji component categories and examples of real components in each category. Every component is simultaneously in both a role-based and a historical presence-based category. To determine a kanji component's categories, use the two diagnostics below:
Role Diagnostic
To determine a component's role in a kanji:
*In some cases, this is hard to determine based on Japanese readings because character pronunciation has drifted over time. If available, compare Old Chinese readings for the best indication. Old Chinese readings can be found on Wiktionary for most characters.
Historical Presence Diagnostic
To determine a component's historical presence in a kanji:
Leveling
How Does Kanjimori Handle Leveling?
To ensure we're teaching you kanji in roughly the same order children in Japan learn them, we crafted our kanji levels in reference to the kanji list for the Japan Kanji Aptitude Test (日本漢字能力検定), or Kanken (漢検) for short. If you're used to the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (日本語能力試験) or JLPT instead, don't worry! As you level up, we'll automatically track your progress in both the Kanken and JLPT testing systems so you always know what exam you're prepared for.*
Some kanji will appear earlier in our kanji levels than they might in Kanken order. This is because they are needed to understand the composition of other kanji in that level. By fast-tracking these characters, we can guarantee that every new character you learn contains only components that you already know. For you, that means faster kanji learning, better retention, and more moments thinking to yourself, "Wow, that makes sense! I've got this!"
* Progress tracking for the JLPT is approximate because there is no offical JLPT kanji list.