すみっコぐらし はじめての漢字辞典

    sumikko gurashi first kanji dictionary

    This textbook is likely targeted at Japanese grade school learners who want to learn kanji. The title translates to “Sumikko Gurashi - My First Kanji Dictionary.” Sumikko Gurashi are characters designed by the company San-X. The first section of the textbook is even dedicated to introducing the reader to all of the characters. You can thus quickly (and correctly) assume that this textbook is full of colors and cute animals.

    Each kanji description shows the radical, stroke order, readings (on’yomi and kun’yomi), the year it’s taught in Japanese grade school (from grades 1-5), and more. Also helpful are the examples given for special readings, which are those that are rarely used, as well as the “都道府県名,” which tells you of important place names that use the character.

    Although this textbook is intended for kanji-learning beginners, for those of us who are learning Japanese from a non-native position, I think it’s more aligned with intermediate-level kanji learners. This is because you have to have some knowledge of kana, kanji, and vocabulary in order to understand what is written. I can see a visual learner benefiting from this style and using it to practice hand-writing kanji. For those that need additional English support, because this book is entirely in Japanese, it likely won’t be the resource for you.

    Print Book
    Kanji
    Dictionary