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Theoretical Approach

Foreigners who study Japanese often question why all four writing systems must be learned to master the language. First, the four writing systems—Hiragana, Katakana, Kanji characters, and the Roman ABCs—each have unique roles. Hiragana is generally used for native words and grammatical values, while Katakana is reserved for foreign words. Here, the function of Katakana shows the cultural consciousness to draw a line between what is Japanese, and what is not. Roman alphabets are valued for initials, such as APEC, WHO, and EU, and for commercial advertisements. Kanji characters must be learned to differentiate between the large bodies of Japanese homophones; words that sound exactly alike though the meanings may differ. A separate Kanji character exists for all the homophones whose meanings would be unclear if written in a purely Hiragana or Katakana text. Second, and more obviously, one must learn all four writing systems to read Japanese text, which in one sentence can utilize Hiragana, Katakana, Kanji characters, and the Roman ABCs. In addition, as the usage of Japanese language is more defined by the regiments of Japanese culture than by conventional reason, one must gain a basic understanding of the Japanese way of life. As such, one cannot isolate the study of the language from the confines of Japanese culture itself.

The uniqueness of Japanese civilization was reinforced by its insularity as one of the few nations to never have been colonized, when colonization swept three-fourths of the globe. Predating Japanese society, the significance of Kanji characters can be understood as the oldest existing, and most widely-used writing system in the world. The earliest forms of Kanji characters were found on oracle bones made from tortoise shells dating back to 1,700 BC—1,100 BC in Hénán, China. However, the evolution of modern-day recognizable Kanji characters was established in approximately 200 AD, reaching the shores of Japan two centuries later. Though other ancient writing systems, such as the Egyptian hieroglyphics and Sumerian scripts, have become nothing more than museum pieces, Kanji characters have flourished; surviving numerous tests of time. Moreover, attributable to the sheer population size of its users—China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, and the Koreas—Kanji is arguably the world’s most widely-used writing system. Yet, in spite of these characteristics, Kanji characters remain a "black hole" to the rest of the world; a situation that need not continue.

Kanji characters and the Roman alphabets are separate and distinct writing systems. The Roman A-to-Z system is based on a combination of letters to form words expanding into sentences. Individually, English letters contain no inherent meaning. One could, therefore, create a new word, like common names or pronouns, without necessarily attaching any meaning. Kanji characters are the exact opposite. Each one already has assigned meanings before combining them to form word compounds. Consequently, one could not form a Kanji word compound stripped of meaning. For highly Kanji literate people, reading Kanji characters is somewhat like reading pictures. That’s not entirely an exaggeration since each Kanji character represents an inherent meaning. Also, many Kanji characters resemble their meaning. For example, the characters for "person" and "river" actually look like a walking person, and a streaming river: 人 and 川.

Communication through symbols, like Kanji characters, takes place all over the world through universal ideograms. When we see the symbols and the immediate meanings conveyed are Christianity and Judaism. Quite recently, universal symbols such as: have become part of daily life—we see them everywhere in world airports and hotels—irrespective of the spoken version. Some advanced forms like the sentence "I NY" have found a niche in popular culture. Far more symbols exist today than a decade ago. Internet sophisticates have enlivened e-mail messages with "emoticons," which are nothing more than symbols. Nearly every corporation has its own logo, designed to instill its corporate image in seconds. Universal symbols, while widely accepted, are still elementary; unable to communicate complex messages or a philosophical discourse. Yet, imagine a time, decades in the making, when the universal symbols we know today will reach a stage of development that allows for higher coherence. Kanji characters preceded universal symbols, have been enriched through centuries, and are highly sophisticated in terms of communicative content and intellectual value.

Kanji characters are remarkably complex; the pronunciation of many characters sound alike, and even more numerous are the characters that look alike. The readings of each character can be split in two groups: ON-yomi, the Chinese reading, or KUN-yomi, the Japanese reading. A large number of Kanji characters may have the same ON-yomi reading. For example, the ON-yomi reading for the following characters can all be read as "kan," though their meanings are completely different: 間、 官、 感 and 漢. A quick count of the Jōyō (most common) Kanji characters pronounced as "kan" would reach the figure of 64, though their meanings are hardly related. Hence, the key to mastering Kanji characters is to aim for their core English meanings. When one contemplates an object in visual form, its pronunciation becomes secondary. When one sees David Beckham playing his game, whether it’s to be called "football" or "soccer" becomes not so important. As a meaning-focused writing system—not pronunciation based—one major advantage is as follows: Though Chinese or Japanese people cannot necessarily converse in a common spoken medium, Kanji characters would enable the two vast cultures, nevertheless, to communicate.

Other Kanji books approach the teaching of Kanji the same way young children are taught Kanji in Japan; by means of the grade-level approach. The needs of children and adult language learners are much different, thus, this teaching method designed for children clearly cannot be the most effective way for adults to learn Kanji. While children learn languages with a symmetrical progression between simple ideas and simple linguistic skills, adult learners have to cope with an unbalanced equation between complex ideas and simple linguistic skills. For adults learning a second language, new linguistic skills must first catch up with his or her already complex thinking—a process that could be frustrating. The main theory behind this book is to simplify Kanji learning through the process of comparison. The study of Kanji through the grade-level approach would completely ignore a significant hindrance of learning Kanji: many Kanji characters look alike and are therefore difficult to differentiate.

In Kanji Handbook, the easily-confused Kanji characters are grouped together so the learner can notice the subtle differences between The similar-looking characters. The learning process navigates through visually distinguishing one from the other, to identify their unique differences, in order to get the core meaning. This book is a humble attempt toward the mastery of Kanji characters within a meaning-focused framework. The core meanings should be of central importance. The conventional presentation of Kanji characters in contemporary Kanji books has the Kanji characters and English words sitting side by side, such as: 水 = water, 山 = mountain, and 女 = woman. A better way to convey the meaning of each Kanji character, as in the case of universal symbols, needs to exist. Toward that objective, here is a ground-breaking alternative, whereby a Kanji character is combined with its English meaning to create one single and indivisible unit called KanjiHybrids. For example: 水ater, 山ountain, and 女oman. Next, to distinguish one Kanji character from another is a frustrating task, yet crucial. To that end, a second component, called Veemuenics, was created. The method is to identify similar-looking Kanji characters, and put them together as KanjiHybrids in a catchy English sentence or phrase. The following Veemuenics are examples of how visually-similar Kanji characters can be set apart within a meaning-focused methodology:

a) 今ow, the 念dea is to 含nclude 吟hants of "Ave Maria..."

b) At the 寺emple's parade, a 侍amurai 持olding a 詩oem of 特pecial 等rade...

c) 立tanding chorus 泣rying over their lost 位tatus...

d) 詐raudulent 酢inegar 作roduced by a beggar...

Finally, my theoretical approach runs along the following analogy: If one were to live in the same house with identical twin brothers, in two to three days, their overt dissimilarities would somehow come to be discerned. However, it would be difficult to tell them apart if they were to come to a sports club alternately. Dozens of Kanji characters are "identical twin brothers." How to know one from the other is the never-ending puzzle. By putting those "identical twins" side by side within the Veemuenics concept, the observer can clearly discern their differences. This manner of comparison is where my theoretical approach to learning Kanji diverges from the current grade-level approach. Within this innovative perspective, I hope to highlight the uniqueness of each Kanji character; to look at each tree, in order to clearly see the larger forest.

With the realization of this book, I sincerely hope to contribute to a better understanding and appreciation of the Japanese language. Following the footsteps of other Kanji books, which provided much of the literature, I humbly offer this work, as a contribution to a yet unexplored path in the study of linguistics.

Miyazaki, Japan

26 December 2005