One Kanji Poster to Rule them All, One Kanji Poster to Bind Them, One Kanji Poster to View them All, and into the Mind Grind Them, Or “Shameless Product Placement is Good for the Wallet, and the Lymph”
Just so we’re clear on this: gigantic, Microsoftial sums of money changed hands before this article came up. This, people, is what ska fans call “selling out”…What else, oh yeah — you need one of these! Buy one or you’ll never know happiness! In fact, buy two!
I’ve previously discussed Japanizing your environment, and part of that Japanization involves covering your walls with kanji. The kanji posters I had on my walls back in the day were from Rolomail and zhongwen.com, respectively. The Rolomail one comes on three separate sheets and is used in Japanese schools; it comes in phonetic order; you need to laminate it yourself if you want to protect it. The zhongwen.com action was a case of me photocopying the index of the book, blowing it up to three or four sheets of 11″x17″ paper, and then laminating it.
Now something better has come along. Brought to you by people other than the people who brought you Jurassic Park — Paddy, a reader of this site and — it’s KanjiPoster! A massive 23″ (58cm) wide, 37″ (94cm) long wall of Japanese kanji goodness. Now, what’s so good about a KanjiPoster kanji poster?
1) It comes in Heisig/Remembering the Kanji (RTK) order. In that sense, I think it is the first of its kind. At the very least, it is the first such product I have come across. Most kanji posters come in either phonetic order or, worse, scholastic order, and generally only have relatively few characters on them.
2) It’s got kanji on it. That should be enough right there.
3) It looks sweet.
4) Contains all general use kanji and then some (over 2000 in total).
5) It’s a single poster. One poster to rule them all. All the other kanji posters I have ever made, bought, or seen are in fact not one poster but a set of multiple posters.
6) Having one of these around is very motivating. It’s like a big, in-your-face, concrete, visual tracker of your progress through Heisig’s book — a great example of posting your goals where you can see them. Even if you’re already done with RTK, having one of these around acts as a free review of what you’ve learned. Every time you cast your eyes on KanjiPoster, you’ll be reinforcing your connection to the characters. Having a bad kanji day? A glance at KanjiPoster will remind you how far you’ve come, and reassure you that while the task may be large, it is definitely not infinite. Having a good kanji day? Let everyone know — mark up your KanjiPoster (KanjiPoster is laminated, so you can write on it with a dry-erase marker) and show your friends, family and innocent bystanders just how much kanji tail you kick.
In fact, the only thing KanjiPoster doesn’t have is readings and keywords. It’s just the characters. Adding more information would probably have made things too cluttered or too big to fit on a single sheet. So, I don’t see this as a big loss.
What are you waiting for? Get a kanji poster already! Do it for the children 
.
[Everybody needs one kanji poster to rule them all; one kanji book or website to learn them; one SRS to review them all, and into the brain burn them — including kids learning Chinese. So watch out for a Chinese version (HanziPoster?) in the geologically near future. As I mentioned a few paragraphs ago, KanjiPoster is developed by Paddy, who reads this site, and is therefore very handsome in addition to being totally cool. He’s always looking for ways to improve himself and the product, so if you have any requests or suggestions, he’ll be happy to hear from you].
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louis said,
February 28, 2008 @ 12:46 pm
Wow it does sound nice a big…but, $35 for a poster of the jouyou kanji seems a bit pricey. Especially when you can rasterbate in privacy ( http://homokaasu.org/rasterbator ).
Alex said,
February 28, 2008 @ 12:54 pm
Wish it came with a free set of markers, too! Am I asking for too much?
mike said,
February 28, 2008 @ 1:03 pm
Were you paid to advertise this?
Jon said,
February 28, 2008 @ 1:07 pm
I’d buy one, but, I feel it’s too expensive. Maybe if I were more into kanji, and I know I will be SOMEDAY, just not yet.
But, I love the website. “Our return and refund policy: NO. Just kidding.” 
My precioussss… Kanji poster! - Nihongo Notes said,
February 28, 2008 @ 7:47 pm
[…] what is probably one of the longest blog titles I have ever seen, Khatzumoto has highlighted a kanji poster from KanjiPoster.com. This looks like a really helpful item to have. I’ve just ordered one. […]
www.japansoc.com said,
February 28, 2008 @ 7:52 pm
One Kanji Poster to Rule them All…
A kanji wall poster in Heisig/Remembering the Kanji (RTK) order. Helpful for those learning Japanese and wishing to Japanize their environment….
GoddessCarlie said,
February 28, 2008 @ 9:00 pm
I’m with the above on that I think it is too expensive. with international shipping, it is $40. Sure, the american dollar is dropping compared to the Australian dollar, but it needs to sink a lot more to make this more affordable. If it was $10 I’d consider it (that is, $25 including shipping sounds OK).
Other than that, it seems like a good product.
Jonathan DeSousa said,
February 28, 2008 @ 9:30 pm
Hey Khatz-san,
I love this article. It was very entertaining.
By the way, I watched the first season of Trick (since you are always recommending it) and it really is great. I am watching the second season now. I also want to thank you for some of your music recommendations. Crystal Kay has an amazing voice, she’s beautiful, and her songs are very catchy.
Thanks for keeping up this awesome website.
Forrest said,
February 29, 2008 @ 12:04 am
Hah! I actually saw this the other day and thought about ordering it.
Now i’m considering it again.. I may still.. we shall see.
and since that Jonathan Desousa guy said he’s watching trick, figured I’de throw in there that I picked up a copy of Tiger & Dragon on ebay for like $30. No english subtitles to be found… lol Sooo it has been interesting.
I have almost no idea what is going on, and the characters speak MUCH faster than I’m used to from listening to anime, music, news. etc.
I”ve only gotten through the first disc. I will have to go find some cliffnotes or somethimg if i want to get much more out of this than the visual humor, for now.
scoff said,
February 29, 2008 @ 1:26 am
I’m voting for a Chinese Hanzi Poster. (In simplified of course)
Jonathan DeSousa said,
February 29, 2008 @ 1:52 am
Forrest-san,
It definitely becomes easier to understand as you become accustomed to listening to the speaking at native speed.
Ganbatte ne.
khatzumoto said,
February 29, 2008 @ 2:49 pm
@mike
Handsomely. Sorry for not making that clear earlier.
khatzumoto said,
February 29, 2008 @ 2:53 pm
@Forrest
There’s a Wikipedia article about Trick that explains the relationships and running gags. If you don’t find anything online about it, I would be happy to write episode guides. There’s also the Japanese Wikipedia article, that goes into detail on every episode. Since it’s text you can go thru it at your own pace.
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%88%E3%83%AA%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF_(%E3%83%86%E3%83%AC%E3%83%93%E3%83%89%E3%83%A9%E3%83%9E)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trick_%28TV_series%29
Forrest said,
March 1, 2008 @ 1:12 am
@Jonathan DeSousa
I sat through the entire disc one last night and just focused on listening as well as I could. I did get alot more out of it.
The main character often sounds like he’s got a mouth full of mush and the older yakuza guy’s voice is both gravelly and higher pitched. (who’d a thunk it) making the task of catching a word or a phrase even more difficult.
@khatzumoto
Jonathan was watching trick, I’m watching タイガー＆ドラゴン though wikipedia sounds like a good idea, I’m sure something silmilar exists for タイガー＆ドラゴン. And you did say that it has exact subtitles.
Seems like Trick might be a good second purchase.
Also, Do you get extra if people buy the poster by clicking through from your site? If so, it just might the be extra little push to get me to buy one… lol
Danny said,
March 1, 2008 @ 11:50 am
I’m one of those people who likes to watch a drama with subtitles once, so that I know exactly what’s going on. If you’re interested, the subtitles for Tiger & Dragon are available at d-addicts here: http://www.d-addicts.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=16181
Chiro-kun said,
March 1, 2008 @ 12:18 pm
Ok this is a little off-topic but…could somebody suggest a good Live Action which is completely in Kansai-ben?
Cheeseweasel said,
March 2, 2008 @ 2:21 am
Hey - sorry to change the subject, I’ve emailed Khatzumoto before and I never got a response, so: has anyone here ever been writing in English and accidentally written a Japanese word instead?
I ask because when I was studying both French and Spanish (in classes… which sucked; I still don’t know either of them), I’d almost always get the two mixed up. Although my circumstances with Japanese are different in that it is self-taught and only one new language, does this ever happen?
Chiro-kun said,
March 2, 2008 @ 12:28 pm
@Cheeseweasel -
Yeah Khatz has a post about it somewhere. That’s why he learns Chinese using Japanese and not English (laddering).
Savara said,
March 5, 2008 @ 7:07 pm
@ Cheeseweasel
Written? No (not yet), but I do have my moments when I want to say something and the Japanese word is ’stuck’ (it’s probably ‘nearest’ or ‘easiest to remember/reach’ at that moment) and I *can’t* for the first few seconds ~ half a minute remember or ‘get to’ the English or Dutch word.
What’s ‘weird’ is that it most often happens for easy words… One time I couldn’t remember the Dutch word for “world” (even though ‘wereld’ is not that far from “world” lol). But it also happens for more difficult words, which… when I think about it, I’ve learned in English the natural way (encounter them often enough, learn what they mean from context and start using them yourself) but never looked up translation. Or, rare but it happens, I don’t even *know* a Dutch word for, only have the English one available.
With Japanese, it hasn’t happened much yet. But it does happen that I randomly (’randomly’) think of a Japanese response before getting the ‘correct’ Dutch response to something. It’s cool that it happens haha, even though I’m not *that* far into Japanese yet.
About writing, well I often manage to ‘confuse’ “and” + “en” (Dutch ‘and’) when typing, it never happens when I’m actually *writing* though. (I write slowly and thus have ages to think about how to write things, lol.) But when typing I easily mix up similar words in different languages, yes.
For me though (besides the “and” + “en” example) I don’t think it has to do with *actually* confusing languages, but more with the fact that “whichever word is ‘nearer’ (easier to get to *OR* closer to what I’m really trying to say (we all know that most words aren’t really translatable… )) and how I think - usually a mix between Dutch and English.
khatzumoto said,
March 9, 2008 @ 1:13 pm
@Chiro-kun
>Ok this is a little off-topic but…could somebody suggest a good Live Action which is completely in Kansai-ben?
ちりとてちん
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/asadora/index.html
A dorama about rakugo. Not exactly a “Tiger and Dragon”, but you’ve got your Kansai-ben..slowed down for a national audience.
ラブコン
Lovely Complex
It’s actually an anime…but, again…with Kansai-ben and again, slowed down for a national audience.
That’s all that comes to mind right now…I’m looking for a real Kansai-ben (as in, not dumbed-down and soulless) show myself.
Forrest said,
March 14, 2008 @ 5:44 am
Good news for your sponsor/advertiser… lol I gave in and bought one. Even better, I was telling a coworker about it. And now his son has bought one as well. Good times.
Looks like their advertising dollars were probably well spent.
khatzumoto said,
March 28, 2008 @ 9:53 am
まいどー！
madmerse said,
April 9, 2008 @ 7:20 pm
Hey khatz thank you for this wonderful site. Because of this I have been watching Japanese movies and shows, listening to Japanese songs, and not been feeling guilty about it. I’ve managed to wean myself away from the subtitles as well.
Also, I have spent the last month or so studying kanji with Heisig’s Remembering the Kanji. Top notch stuff. I started slowly - it’s hard to build up momentum, but I am about 1/4 of the way through and am learning 25-50 kanji a day. I’ll probably ratchet that up later on, but it’s getting to the end of my college term and I’m running out of free time for extra studying.
I’ll post another comment when I’ve graduated from the kanji book. That’ll be when the real fun begins.
Dazyrue said,
April 21, 2008 @ 1:48 am
Wow. Comments have gotten way off topic, huh. Well just want ya to know, from someone who has bought the poster, that it kicks ass!!! The kanji, even though there are so many, are easy to read, and its nice you can write on it. Ive been highlighting each day’s kanji in different colors so its easy to refer back. Worth the money, I think.
madmerse said,
April 22, 2008 @ 2:55 pm
My mistake. I got really excited about this website and posted a comment in the wrong place. So yeah it’s kinda off topic… I really want that poster now. Dazruyue, how long did it take to ship?
KingMar said,
April 27, 2008 @ 4:29 am
I keep trying to make my computer show kanji and stuff but every time i try to “install files for eas asian languages” it askes for the CD and i dont have it any more.
Is there some other way to do it?
Dr Talon said,
July 23, 2008 @ 5:02 pm
Hey everyone, there is a link on this page called “posting your goals where you can see them”. I have a kanjiposter and it is great because you have all of heisig’s kanji in order BUT for some reason even though I have this poster in front of me everyday it was still hard to visualize your progress.
I mean, say you were at 300 kanji, you make a mark on the poster to show your progress, and no doubt you worked your butt off to get there (realistically speaking it is alot of work), you would look at the poster and realize thet your only 1/8th of the way to completion! That sucks as a motivator! After that, you feel down and it’s hard to tell yourself that you will do that much work another 8 times.
The poster is great, but I think that the kanji on it are too small to motivate someone. The way I have done it is by using post-it notes. I’m not sure who else is doing this, but it works great.
You go out and buy a huge stack of post-it notes and write every kanji you have learned and stick it on your wall. Use a sharpie and make it BIG! (be neat though!) Now, 300 kanji on post-it notes drawn BIG in your own writing takes up ALOT more space than just the poster. It’s a huge motivator because you cal look at your walls and be like “I know all of that?? Awesome!” and you just keep going until your room is covered in post-it notes!
The great thing about post-it notes is that you can move them from place to place and the sticky part usually lasts quite a while as long as you are sticking them to a clean flat surface. If you have trouble remembering a kanji, whip out the stack of post-it notes and write it 20 times and post them in every common place (washroom, kitchen, car, around your computer monitor, on your school textbooks, EVERYWHERE!) I guarantee you won’t forget that trouble kanji after seeing it all day.
Advantages: Large surface area, visually motivating, portable-kanji, stick them anywhere!
Disadvantages: The cost of post-it notes went up and they are actually really expensive for just small yellow pieces of paper with a little bit of adhesive (I’ve bought and have used over 2500 post-it notes and I say I’ve spent close to $100 on just post-its, then you need a few sharpies too).
Aside from the cost, it’s not like you need 2500 post-its instantly lol. Buy a pack for 10 or 15 bucks and use them. Once they are used and before you go to the store to buy more, look at your walls and just marvel at what you know!
@Dr. Talon said,
August 19, 2008 @ 9:17 am
“I mean, say you were at 300 kanji, you make a mark on the poster to show your progress, and no doubt you worked your butt off to get there (realistically speaking it is alot of work)”
You have just motivated me!
It took me just over a day to beat slime forest (the free version) which has about 300 kanji, if you check the status afterwords. MotivationPoints +10000. MWAHAHAHHAHA!
vgambit said,
September 5, 2008 @ 5:00 pm
“If you have trouble remembering a kanji, whip out the stack of post-it notes and write it 20 times”
This is totally against the philosophy of spaced repetition. You take the hammer and hit the nail good and hard one time. If you continue to strike the nail with the hammer, you’ll start damaging the area around the nail.
All Japanese All The Time Dot Com » Success Story: Motivation Brings Results Bring More Motivation Brings More Results said,
September 24, 2008 @ 7:01 pm
[…] The Kanji Poster: This combines both physical evidence of progress and the ability to show off (though more humbly this time). Here is what I do: Each time I learn a new kanji reading I write the kanji down on an index card. By the end of the week, the card is filled with kanji that I am now able to fill in with a red marker on the kanji poster. Once the whole poster is red, I will have accomplished my goal. This definitely brings on determination to learn more readings, and anyone who passes through my room is bound to say, “Hey, your poster there is lookin’ pretty red if I do say so myself ;)” Take a picture of your reddening (or greenening or purpling) kanji poster each week and you’ll truly see your progress. […]