Hyougai Kanji (表外漢字) Books

2 comments

1. Short answer is I don’t know and hopefully someone else can help OP on that front.

   I would, however, suggest using the 漢検 to benchmark oneself if OP is hoping to actually do something with their kanji knowledge (and intent on going beyond the 常用漢字). OP can simply skip the radical and stroke order sections if they don’t plan on using that knowledge and don’t intend to sit the actual test.

   As someone who reads a fair bit of Japanese, both for work and pleasure, I would argue that most of the kanji and vocabulary learned via the 漢検 is useful and relevant. This only starts to become a little questionable around 準一級 (the second highest level), unless you read a lot of novels.

   – Official website: https://www.kanken.or.jp/kanken/
   – Simple tool to see which difficulty level is suitable: https://www.kanken.or.jp/kanken/meyasucheck/
   – Official learning materials: https://www.kanken.or.jp/kanken/textbook/ (can also be found on Amazon JP)

   There are also various unofficial textbooks, websites and apps available. A quick search through this subreddit and/or the internet should provide plenty of hits.

2. Hey, fellow kanji nerd! First off, I’d keep your plans to go farther with kanji under wraps a bit in the Japanese language community. EVERYBODY is going to want to tell you how irrelevant it is to modern Japanese, how most natives don’t even bother, etc. Don’t listen to these people. The kanji beyond the “main” sets are the most cool, interesting, and fun to learn anyway.

   My two main dictionaries right now are the Kanken dictionary listed in the previous comment and the Shinchousha Kanji Dictionary. The Shinchousha is more extensive, it contains something like 20,000 kanji. It’s got a lot more information about each character, and really shines when it comes to etymology and historical info. If you want to be able to look up the Chinese oracle bone marking that a kanji evolved from, or what its most obscure variant is, then I’d get this one. It’s way more dictionary than someone who isn’t a kanji nerd would ever need, but if you’re a kanji nerd it’s a very cool resource to have. That being said, it was very expensive ($150 USD). It’s also not at all portable – you aren’t going to be studying at the coffee shop with this one.

   The Kanken dictionary is a really solid choice as well, although I just got it today so I’m still getting a feel for it. If you’re thinking about possibly taking one of the Kanken exams someday, you’re probably going to need this one anyway, since it’s essentially also a study guide for the exam. This one is far more concise, only including about 6300 kanji, and it doesn’t include as many compounds or very obscure meanings. However, that’s not a bad thing: I feel as though I get a clearer understanding of the kanji from the Kanken’s more concise entries. This one also categorizes the characters a lot more, making it easier to break them down for learning. It indicates in each entry which level of the test the character is on. This one is also much more affordable ($40 USD is about what I paid) and definitely portable as it’s far smaller and lighter than the Shinchousha. It’s also important to note that if you want to take level 1 of the Kanken, not everything tested is included in this book. You’ll need two supplemental guides along with it, too. For a complete set of the level 1 study materials I paid about ~$130 USD.

   It all comes down to personal preference and exactly what you want to do with your kanji knowledge. I do actually want to take the Kanken so I’m essentially using their dictionary as my main study guide and the Shinchousha one to double-check or get more information on the character if I need to. If you want even MORE vocab you can get a Kojien, and then I don’t think you can go farther than that!