Remember the Kanji: the method, the criticism, and the alternatives

James Heisig’s Remembering the Kanji is the best-known meaning-first method. You learn about 2,200 kanji in an order built from components, each with an English keyword and a story you write yourself. Readings come later, in a separate volume.

What it does well

• Order by parts. You learn 木 before 林 before 森. Every new kanji is made of pieces you know.
• Stories you build. You do the imagining yourself, which helps memory.
• Community. Kanji Koohii, a free website, collects other learners’ stories and reviews.

Common complaints

• Keywords. Learners on Koohii’s Reddit thread point out that “there’s a lot of wrong keywords”: some keywords don’t match how the kanji is used in real words.
• No readings for months. You can recognise 2,000 kanji and still not read a sentence.
• Order ignores frequency. Common kanji can come late.

Alternatives

Option	Approach	Cost
RTK + Koohii	Your own stories, component order	Book; Koohii free
WaniKani	Mnemonics, radicals, readings, SRS, fixed pace	Subscription after level 3
Kanji Mnemonics	Ready-made picture story per kanji, JLPT order, quiz, widget	Lesson 1 free, then Pro
Textbook + Anki	Kanji learned with vocabulary	Mostly free

Where Kanji Mnemonics differs

It sorts by JLPT level, includes readings and example words, and gives you a picture so you don’t start from a blank page. If you liked the RTK idea but got stuck inventing stories at kanji 300, a ready-made picture can carry you through; for the stubborn ones, write your own as RTK suggests.

Comparison page: Kanji Mnemonics vs other apps