The World of Kanji

    Coming out of a successful crowdfunding round on Kickstarter, creator Alex Alder has finished the PDF version of The World of Kanji. This book promises to help teach over 2,000 kanji using the etymology and historical themes behind each one. You can buy the PDF or the physical edition.

    The ebook contains over 700 pages aimed at teaching everything there is to know about the etymology of kanji, focusing on the evolution of glyphs.

    Unfortunately, the book isn't written in accessible language and tries to make it clear that this is a high-brow book for smart people to learn Japanese the smart way. It was honestly a bit off-putting, especially because books using this "learn Japanese the old-fashioned way" style have been coming out more and more over the years. Using familiar, fun language could have really set this apart.

    the world of kanji

    That's not to say there isn't a lot of content in The World of Kanji. If you're interested in learning about Japanese etymology and using glyphs and images to learn kanji (or just about them), it could be an interesting addition to your studies.

    E-Book
    Print Book
    Kanji