Remembering the Kanji 3: Writing and Reading the Japanese Characters for Upper-Level Proficiency

430 Pages·2008·5.74 MB·english

by  James W. Heisig

Japanese language
R
e James W. Heisig (cid:129) Tanya Sienko
m
e
Students who have learned to read and write the basic 2,000 char- m
acters run into the same diffi culty that university students in
b
Japan face: the government-approved list of basic educational e
kanji are not suffi cient for advanced reading and writing. Although r Remembering the Kanji 3
i
n
each academic specialization requires supplementary kanji of its
g
own, a large number of these kanji overlap. With that in mind, the
t
same methods employed in Volumes 1 and 2 of Remembering the h
Writing and Reading Japanese Characters for
Kanji have been applied to 1,000 additional characters determined e

as useful for upper-level profi ciency, and the results published as K Upper-Level Profi ciency
the third volume in the series. a
n
To identify the extra 1,000 characters, frequency lists were
j
i
researched and cross-checked against a number of standard Japan-
3
ese kanji dictionaries. Separate parts of the book are devoted to
·
learning the writing and reading of these characters. The writing h
requires only a handful of new “primitive elements.” A few are e
introduced as compound primitives (“measure words”) or as i
s
alternative forms for standard kanji. The majority of the kanji, 735 i
g
in all, are organized according to the elements introduced in

Volume 1. For the reading, about twenty-fi ve percent of the new &
kanji fall into “pure groups” that use a single “signal primitive” to
s
identify the main Chinese reading. Another thirty percent of the i
e
new kanji belong to groups with one exception or to mixed groups
n
in which the signal primitives have two readings. The remaining
k
306 characters are organized fi rst according to readings that can
o
be intuited from the meaning or dominant primitive element, and
then according to useful compound terms.
Six indexes include hand-drawn samples of the new characters
introduced and cumulative lists of the key words and primitive
meanings, and of the Chinese and Japanese pronunciations, that
appear in all 3 volumes of the series.
James W. Heisig is professor and permanent research fellow at the
Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture in Nagoya, Japan.
Tanya Sienko spent ten years working for the Japanese government
and Japanese industry. After a period at the Warburg Institute
in London, she returned to the U.S. and now works as an
entrepreneur.
University of Hawai‘i Press
Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96822-1888
www.uhpress.hawaii.edu
remembering the kanji 3
RK3 (UHP).indb i 10/11/2007 8:27:25 AM
by the same author
Remembering the Kana: A Guide to Reading and Writing the Japanese Syllabaries
in 3 Hours Each. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2007 (1987)
Remembering the Kanji 1: A Complete Course on How Not to Forget the Meaning
and Writing of Japanese Characters. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press,
2007 (1977)
Remembering the Kanji 2: A Systematic Guide to Reading Japanese Characters.
Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2008 (1987)
Kanji para recordar i: Curso mnemotécnico para el aprendizaje de la escritura y
el signifi cado de los caracteres japoneses (with Marc Bernabé and Verònica
Calafell). Barcelona: Herder Editorial, 2005 (2001)
Kanji para recordar ii: Guía sistemática para la lectura de los caracteres japone-
ses (with Marc Bernabé and Verònica Calafell). Barcelona: Herder Editorial,
2004
Kana para recordar: Curso mnemotécnico para el aprendizaje de los silabarios
japoneses (with Marc Bernabé and Verònica Calafell). Barcelona: Herder Edi-
torial, 2005 (2003)
Die Kanji lernen und behalten 1. Bedeutung und Schreibw eise der japanischen
Schrift zeichen (with Robert Rauther). Frankfurt am Main: Vittorio Kloster-
mann Verlag, 2006 (2005)
Die Kanji lernen und behalten 2. Systematische Anleitung zu den Lesungen der
japanischen Schrift zeichen (with Robert Rauther). Frankfurt am Main: Vitto-
rio Klostermann Verlag, 2006
Die Kana lernen und behalten. Die japanische Silbenschrift lesen und schreiben
in je drei Stunden (with Klaus Gresbrand). Frankfurt am Main: Vittorio
Kloster mann Verlag, 2006
Kanji: Imaginar para aprender (with Rafael Shoji). São Paulo: jbc Editora, 2007
RK3 (UHP).indb ii 10/11/2007 8:27:26 AM
Remembering the Kanji
vol. 3
Writing and Reading Japanese Characters
for Upper-Level Profi ciency
James W. Heisig
&
Tanya Sienko
second edition
University of Hawai‘i Press
honolulu
RK3 (UHP).indb iii 10/11/2007 8:27:26 AM
Copyright © 1994, 2008 by James W. Heisig
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions
thereof in any form without the written permission of the publisher.
Printed in the United States of America
First edition: 2nd printing, 1995
Second edition: 1st printing, 2008
12 11 10 09 08 07 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Heisig, James W., 1944-
Remembering the kanji : a complete course on how not to forget the meaning
and writing of Japanese characters / James W. Heisig. — 5th ed.
v. <1> ; cm.
Includes indexes.
ISBN 978-0-8248-3165-3 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Japanese language—Orthography and spelling. 2. Chinese characters—
Japan. 3. Japanese language—Textbooks for foreign speakers—English. I. Title.
PL547.H4 2007
495.6’82421—dc22
2006103109
Th e typesetting for this book was done at the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture.
University of Hawai‘i Press books are printed on acid-free paper and meet the guidelines
for permanence and durability of the Council on Library Resources.
RK3 (UHP).indb iv 10/11/2007 8:27:26 AM
Contents
Preface by Tanya Sienko 1
Introduction 3
part one: writing
1 New Primitives and Kanji Primitives 13
2 Major Primitive Elements 24
3 Miscellaneous Kanji 120
4 Western Measurements 134
5 Phonetic Characters 136
6 Old and Alternate Forms 138
part two: reading
7 Old Pure Groups 149
8 New Pure Groups 171
9 Semi-Pure Groups 198
10 Mixed Groups 221
11 A Potpourri of Readings 250
12 Kanji with Japanese Readings Only 288
13 Readings of Old and Alternate Forms 298
14 Supplementary Kanji 301
v
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vi | contents
indexes
Index i Hand-Drawn Characters 309
Index ii Primitive Elements 318
Index iii Kanji in Stroke Order 323
Index iv Chinese Readings 338
Index v Japanese Readings 357
Index vi Key Words and Primitive Meanings 404
RK3 (UHP).indb vi 10/11/2007 8:27:26 AM
Preface
Tanya Sienko
When I first contacted Dr. Heisig with a proposal to add a third volume to
Remembering the Kanji, I somehow left the impression that it was my rather
esoteric needs as a scientist that left me hankering for more kanji than the
2,042 I had learned with his method. Actually, it was not the technical prose of
Yukawa and Tomonaga on fi eld theory that were causing me my biggest head-
aches but ordinary Japanese novels. Having read mystery novels to polish my
reading in other languages, I was disappointed to fi nd that the “essential” or
“general-use” characters were simply not enough to gain entry into the Japa-
nese thriller. Aft er just a few chapters, my maiden voyage ended on the rocks.
So much for “basic literacy,” I thought to myself. And so was born the idea for
this book.
During the time of the American Occupation, the Japanese writing sys-
tem underwent a complete overhaul, which saw the number of Chinese char-
acters to be learned during the years of compulsory education reduced to a
bare minimum of 1,850. Th e idea was to simplify the system and facilitate lit-
eracy by removing rarely used kanji from circulation. What the reformers did
not count on in their long-range plan was the resistance of the general pub-
lic to the disappearance of many kanji customarily used for names. Families
reacted by continuing to name their children with “traditional” names, but
the government refused to register the kanji. Th is resulted in the bizarre situ-
ation where a number of Japanese were growing up legally nameless. In 1951
the Ministry of Education grudgingly backed down and approved another 92
“legal” characters for names, followed by another 28 in 1976. In 1981 the num-
ber of “general-use” kanji was increased in 1,945 and in 1990 the kanji approved
for use in names was increased to 284. Th is is the situation at present.
Of course, there were still numerous kanji outside the list that continued to
be used in place names, or that appeared in books published before the edu-
cational reforms and were impractical to update. Over the past twenty years
many of these exiled characters have migrated back into daily use. Advertis-
ers oft en prefer the compactness and precision of older kanji to their phonetic
1
RK3 (UHP).indb 1 10/11/2007 8:27:26 AM
2 | preface
equivalents. Increasing competition has induced universities to include more
and more “unoffi cial” kanji in their entrance examinations. And popular nov-
elists, as always, cling tenaciously to their cache of little-known glyphs as a
mark of the trade. Finally, the ubiquitous word processor has turned the dis-
tinction between what is “allowed” and what is “disallowed” into something of
an anachronism.
For the foreign student who has landed in this mess, there have been only
two alternatives: either you adhere to the offi cial list, or you stumble about
blindly trying to improve your knowledge as best you can. Th e idea behind
the present book was to off er a third choice: supplementary kanji to lay a solid
basis for contemporary Japanese.
In addition to the method of selection explained in Dr. Heisig’s introduc-
tion, I myself checked the fi nal list against Edward Daub et al., Compre hending
Technical Japanese (University of Wisconsin Press, 1975), which used fre-
quency lists to determine the 500 kanji most used in technical writings. With
the exception of characters specifi c to one fi eld, this list is represented in the
pages that follow.
Of the many people who assisted me in this project, I would like particularly
to express my thanks to Ronald D. Mabbitt for help in the cross-referencing
and for his many useful suggestions on the structure of the book; and Kanda
Yumiko 神田由美子 for checking some of the more obscure compounds.
RK3 (UHP).indb 2 10/11/2007 8:27:26 AM
Introduction
The american philosopher William James once wrote that a great idea goes
through three stages on its way to acceptance. First, it is dismissed as non-
sense. Th en it is acknowledged as true, but insignifi cant. Finally, it is seen to be
important, but not really anything new. Time and again history confi rms the
wisdom of James’s observation, but it also reminds us that the very same bias
that resists the invasion of novelty also serves to swat away many a fl ea-brained
idea buzzing about for attention.
In this connection, I must admit I am of two minds about Remem bering the
Kanji and its companion volumes. I have always had the sense that there was
something fl ea-brained about the whole project. Its reception by students of
the Japanese language across the world has been as much a surprise to me as to
the original publishers. We had expected no more than a short buzz, followed
by a fi rm whack into oblivion. From the start I was convinced that if there was
anything important in the method, it surely was nothing new. All I had done,
aft er all, was to put some semblance of order into what students of the kanji
had always done: trick their minds into making easily forgettable shapes more
memorable. Th e sales of the books, as well as scores of letters from readers, has
convinced me that this is, in fact, the case.
On the one hand, the method seems to have proved itself a natural one
suited to large numbers of students motivated to study the kanji on their own.
On the other, it remains virtually useless for classroom instruction. Th is is
hardly surprising, since it aims to do something the classroom cannot do,
namely to tap the imagination of the individual at the individual’s own learn-
ing pace. To the native speaker of Japanese trained in the traditional school
system and trying to teach the Japanese writing system to those whose pri-
mary education was outside of the “kanji curtain,” it can only appear a dis-
tracting gimmick. For one who does not know from experience the question
behind the method, the answer—even if it works—makes no sense. Whatever
the merits of Remembering the Kanji as a learning tool, then, its demerits as a
teaching tool are beyond redemption. Th is is probably for the best. To force the
expectations of the textbook on the method would probably only end up frus-
trating everyone—teachers and students. Th e saving grace of the books is that
they are simply too fl ea-brained to run the circuit of “course work.”
Letters from readers have combined expressions of gratitude with more
3
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