About | The Kanji Speedrun

💡 How I Started

Like many learners, my first introduction to kanji memory techniques came from James Heisig’s Remembering the Kanji (RTK). I’m genuinely grateful for that book—it opened my eyes to the power of mnemonics and, over time, helped me develop the skill of crafting memory aids of my own. The concept of “learning the meaning first” truly changed the game for me, and the practice of creating stories for each character became second nature.

Of course, no single approach fits everyone. As I progressed, I sometimes found myself tripping over the more abstract or rigid meanings in RTK, and occasionally the mnemonic stories felt a bit forced for my taste. But far from being a dead end, those moments pushed me to start creating my own stories—mnemonics that felt natural and memorable to me. That creative process is what I’m using every day now as I build The Kanji Speedrun.

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📝 Study Abroad & Traditional Methods

Later, during a year of study abroad in Japan, I encountered the traditional approach: endless writing drills and rote memorization. To my surprise, there was little mention in class of kanji parts or how they connected. My classmates struggled to keep up, so I shared what I’d learned about mnemonics and kanji “building blocks.” It helped, but progress was still slow—only about 500 kanji were covered in that year.

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🔁 SRS, Anki, and The Burnout Trap

When I returned home, I discovered SRS and the “forgetting curve.” Anki entered the picture, and I paired it with the Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Course for more accurate meanings that seemed to apply to compound words better. I let go of the pressure to master writing and readings from day one, focusing instead on meaning and recognition—how each kanji’s core meaning applied to words—and my learning speed took off.

I was learning 25 kanji per day and learned 2,300 characters in just over three months. But I hit a new obstacle: flashcard overload. My Anki deck ballooned to over 400 reviews a day, and review became a slog. I started to burn out.

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🧠 Learning Theory & How to Use This Site

Through years of trial and error, I realized something key: not every kanji needs to go into a spaced repetition system (SRS) like Anki. Some characters just “stick” because they’re logical, visual, or built from familiar parts. Think of a word like "doghouse". Once you know “dog” and “house,” do you really need to keep reviewing “doghouse” for the next year?

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The Two-Phase System

That insight led me to develop a two-phase system:

Phase 1: Meaning & Recognition
Learn each kanji’s core meaning (with the help of vivid mnemonics), and check your memory using the built-in five-day review sheet. Only the kanji you forget (the “tough ones”) should go into Anki for extra SRS.

Phase 2: Readings & Writing
Once you’ve finished all Joyo kanji, circle back to start mastering readings and writing. By now, you’ve seen these characters in real life, and the process is much less overwhelming.

Learn more about it here!

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What We Offer

On this site, you’ll find:

• Memorable Mnemonics—revised over years of review.
• Visual Storytelling—every page features illustrations with our friendly mascots, Ken & Mei, to make each memory more “sticky.”
• Font Familiarization—toggle between textbook, handwritten, and print fonts, so you’re ready for real-world reading from the start.
• Review Grid System—build lasting memory through active recall, not busywork.
• Anki Integration—decks provided, but you only need to study what you actually struggle with.

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🏃‍♂️ Why Speed First, Writing Second

My core belief: speed and recognition come first. Writing, while valuable, is not required to build reading fluency, especially for tests like the JLPT. Recognition is what unlocks books, manga, signs, and screens. When you focus on recognizing kanji and understanding their meanings, writing comes much more easily later.

When learners start with writing, it slows everything down. Writing is a useful skill—but it's also time-intensive. By splitting the process into two sweeps, you maximize both speed and depth. Your first sweep is all about rapid recognition. In your second sweep—writing and readings—you consolidate and expand on everything you’ve already seen in the real world. This helps reinforce and polish what you've already learned.

That second sweep is especially powerful. By the time you revisit the kanji for writing, you’ve likely seen them many times in real contexts—books, subtitles, apps, signs. At this stage, writing feels more natural. You’ve had time for the shapes and meanings to settle and could probably already rattle off a few words which use it! When you return to them with a writing goal, your brain already has a scaffold to build on. You’re not writing blind.

Plus, the second sweep gives you a chance to recover any kanji you might’ve forgotten along the way. It’s a more strategic and forgiving approach than trying to master everything in one go.

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Writing the Kanji

Once you're ready to master handwriting, I recommend Skritter. Review on mobile is fast and focused, perfect as a tool to use with The Kanji Speedrun! I’ve used it for years and wouldn’t try to reinvent what it already does so well.

🔁 Built-in Reinforcement

When I began tutoring kanji, I noticed how powerful it was for my students to try to recall the meanings of kanji we had studied, even while learning new characters. That practice is now built into The Kanji Speedrun.

Each kanji page includes a short, curated list of example words, designed to reinforce kanji you’ve already learned. That means you’re always revisiting and reviewing earlier material in context. You're not just learning—you’re looping knowledge back in.

Kanji meanings are hidden by default. Just click to reveal, so every session is like a mini quiz.

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🖌️ Visual Storytelling & Font Familiarization

Every page features illustrations with our friendly mascots, Ken & Mei, to make each mnemonic more memorable. And, since kanji in the wild appear in many styles, you can toggle between textbook, handwritten, and print fonts—preparing you for anything.

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💡 A Project Years in the Making

Over time, with my own growing knowledge of how kanji are used, my mnemonics and other tools became more and more refined—until they no longer felt like a copy of any one method. I had created something distinct from the books and decks I’d started with.

The Kanji Speedrun is built on all that: everything I learned, borrowed, and improved over years of struggle and discovery. It’s not just a course—it’s a system designed to help you move faster, retain more, and avoid burnout. I hope it gives you the boost I wish I’d had.

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