"One of the best modern texts. Highly recommended."--"The Japan Times" A new 21st-century edition of the widely acclaimed reference classic Complete, compact, and essential, this is the book that will accompany you throughout your work with the Japanese language. If you read, write, or study Japanese, this is the resource you need in order to use and master the kanji (the Chinese-derived characters used in the Japanese language). This new edition reflects the recent update by the Japanese government of the official Joyo kanji list. Joyo means "daily use," and these 2,136 kanji are the ones that every Japanese person learns in public education. What makes this guide the leader? It explains the kanji and kana's history, orthography, and usage, as well as guides to writing, punctuation, romanization, and how to use Japanese dictionaries and reference books. Key info is summarized in 19 convenient tables--from the 214 historical radicals, to the rules for determining a kanji's radical, to the derivation of kana. And for each of the 2,136 Joyo kanji, here are their officially recognized readings, most important definitions, and up to 5 useful compounds. Plus, for maximum usefulness to learners studying the characters in this sequence, the compounds use only kanji that have been introduced earlier. Whatever you may need to do with reading or writing Japanese, you'll find the core info here, in this detail-rich guide to all aspects of the Japanese writing system.