News for Autumn, 2011

New textbook search parameter: In response to customization request, with the authors’ permission, we have added the ability to search the following kanji list:

Eri Banno, Yoko Ikeda, Chikako Shinagawa, Kaori Tajima, Kyoko Tokashiki, KANJI LOOK AND LEARN, The Japan Times News for Autumn, 2010.

We added mnemonic hints for each kanji. You can read story descriptions of each kanji, using its components to help you remember how to write the kanji. Please note that these are not based on etymology.

News for Winter, 2010

The kanji list for the AP examination has been added. A list of which kanji are listed in which section is available here (PDF file).

News for Autumn, 2008

Kanji alive has been upgraded to a pilot/beta web application which runs in any browser supporting Adobe Flash, Apple Quicktime, and Japanese fonts. For future versions we plan to remove the need for QuickTime and make additional refinements and changes its user interface and features.

News for Spring, 2007

The kanji list from Harrison High School has been added.

News for Autumn, 2006

Kanji alive has been selected as an Encyclopedia Britannica iGuide site.

New features added in Summer, 2006

New textbook search parameter: In response to customization requests, with the authors’ permission, we have added the ability to search the following kanji list: a kanji list developed by the University of Vermont Japanese program for the Tsukuba Language Group’s Situational Functional Japanese, vol. 1-3, Bonjinsha.

New features added in Spring, 2005

Additional kanji entries: All 1235 kanji have been entered, making Kanji alive more useful to intermediate level students as well as to general users who are learning kanji using other textbooks.

Faster loading: Kanji alive loads faster, especially with QuickTime 7.

New textbook search parameters: In response to customization requests, with the authors’ permission, we have added the ability to search the following kanji lists:

• Chieko Kano, Yuri Shimizu, Hiroko Takenaka, Eriko Ishii, Basic Kanji Book, Bonjinsha
• Hiromi Peterson and Naomi Omizo, Adventures in Japanese, Vol. 1-4, Cheng & Tsui Company
• Eri Banno, Chikako Shinagawa, Youko Sakane, Yutaka Oono, Kyouko Tokashiki, Genki, Japan Times

New toggle feature: Once you have viewed the stroke by stroke animation, clicking on the main information field will now toggle between the kyoukashotai font and handwritten display of the kanji.

New features added in Winter, 2005

Grade level search: Users can now search for kanji by the grade in which the kanji is taught in the Japanese elementary schools. Japanese website and documentation Kanji alive has been included in Japanzine’s Best Of Japan On The Web – 2004 report.

New features added in Spring, 2004

User Interface improvements: Users can now select and move through the kanji animation stroke by stroke [N.B. This feature requires QuickTime v6.5 or higher – not available for Mac OS 8 and 9 users].

Greater Speed: The search function is now much faster and responsive than before in particular for users with slow (e.g. modem) connections.

New features added in Autumn, 2003

English meaning of compound examples: The user no longer needs to look up the English meaning(s).

Pronunciation (audio files) of compound examples: The user is able to listen to the correct pronunciations and intonations for each of the compound examples.

English meaning of the radical and its stroke number: The English meaning of each radical is added, so the user can view the radical transition movie with better understanding.

Grade Level in Japanese Elementary Schools: The user will see in what grade the kanji is taught in the Japanese elementary schools.

Customization: We have started offering instructors the opportunity to customize our database for their classroom. We work with them to organize the kanji according to the lessons in the textbook they use at their institution.