Kanji Pictographix

The sharp eyed among you will have noticed that I have added a link on the left of the page to Michael Rowley's Kanji Pictographix site. Back before I first came to Japan (aeons ago) his book Kana Pictographix helped me get to grips with what seemed at the time the completely alien hiragana and katakana phonetic syllabaries. Later, his book Kanji Pict-O-Graphix also helped me a lot. Michael Rowley is an accomplished illustrator, photographer, and best-selling author who has used his beautifully designed visual mnemonics to teach not only kanji, but also geography and the periodic table! As I said his books helped me a lot. I liked the way he grouped the kanji thematically, and tried as much as possible to reveal the elements original meanings in his illustrations. Of course this visual style of mnemonic doesn't work for everyone. Each person needs to find their own way to study. Personally I combined these with a storytelling technique similar to that suggested by James W. Heisig in his book Remembering the Kanji. Why not check out Michael Rowley's website and the samples he has on there before you think about investing in one of his books? Watch out also for the up and coming Kanji PictoCards! Link to Kanji Pictographix.

Buy Kanji Pictographix on amazon.com, amazon.co.jp, and amazon.co.uk.
Buy Kana Pictographix on amazon.com, amazon.co.jp, and amazon.co.uk.