漢字 Kanji
Kanji here are ordered by usefulness, travel first— not school-grade order, not a textbook list. The question for every character is: how fast does it help you read the world?
One promise: no quizzes. Kanji practice on this site is recognition — cards, real words, and spotting characters you've already met inside lessons you can hear.
Every card has a 🔊 button — tap it to hear the word in Mimi's voice. Turn on furigana to see the readings above the characters.
Phase 1 — Signs & survival
The kanji a visitor to Japan needs to read stations, menus, and prices. Each card gives you the character, what it means, and a real word or reading to hear — think 出口, "exit," over the station gate.
Numbers & money
Time
Directions & places
People & facilities
Food & drink
Action signs
Phase 2 — Kanji from the lessons
Every kanji that appears in lesson vocabulary, grouped by lesson. You meet the character first inside a lesson you can already hear; then the card makes it stick. The word under each character is a lesson word it lives in — tap 🔊 to hear that word. Lesson pages link here, and these lists link back.
N5 · Unit 1 · あいさつ Greetings
N5 · Unit 2 · すうじと じかん Numbers and Time
N4 · Unit 1 · りょうり Cooking
N4 · Unit 2 · かいもの Shopping
N4 · Unit 3 · うんてん Driving
N4 · Unit 4 · いぬ Dogs
Phase 3 — Growing by level
After signs and lesson kanji, the collection grows along the JLPT-modeled ladder — the rest of N5's ~100, then N4's ~300 — still filtered through the same question: does this character earn its place in your day?
💬 Stuck on something? Tell Mimi
Feedback goes with the page you were on, so Mimi can find the exact spot. If it was one word or one line, name it below.