Learn 2,000 kanji the way bamboo grows
A mnemonic for every character and reviews timed to your memory — over 2,000 kanji across 100 small levels, a few quiet minutes a day.
A calmer way to remember kanji
Three things doing the work: good timing, a memorable story, and steady progress you can see. It should feel calm, not like cramming.
Reviews timed to you
Each character returns right before you'd forget it — intervals that widen from hours to months. Quick sessions, lasting memory.
A mnemonic for every character
A short, vivid story ties the parts to the meaning, so the shape sticks the first time.
Progress you can see
Every character moves from new to mastered as you learn it, unlocking the next of 100 levels.
What you'll learn
Every kanji is built from smaller parts. Learn the parts, and the whole follows — from radicals up to real words.
235 radicals
The building blocks — real, simple shapes that combine to form every kanji.
2,000+ kanji
Each carries a meaning and a reading, taught in a sensible frequency order.
4,000 words
Built from the kanji you already know — like 竹林, a bamboo grove.
Why it works
The quiet ideas behind Chikurin — why a few honest minutes a day beat hours of cramming.
Recall, not rereading
Every review pulls a character back from memory. The effort of remembering is exactly what makes it stick — far more than flipping a card over.
Calm by design
No streaks to keep, no daily guilt. Miss a day and your reviews simply wait for you. Progress is the only reward.
A curriculum you can trust
235 real radicals, kanji in frequency order, and words you'll actually meet — not a random pile of cards.
Grow level by level
Every character moves through the stages — Seedling, Sapling, Cane, Timber — until it's Evergreen and needs no more review. There are 100 levels in all, and you can watch them fill in as you go.
Three steps, then let it grow
Show up for a few minutes a day and trust the timing.
Learn a handful
Meet a few new characters in short, unhurried lessons.
Review on time
Each one returns the moment it's about to fade — that's when it sticks.
Level up
Pass a level's kanji and the next unlocks. Steady, compounding growth.
Questions, answered
What is spaced repetition?
It shows you each character at widening intervals — from a few hours up to several months — always right before you'd forget. You remember more with far less total review than cramming.
Do I need to know any Japanese to start?
No. Chikurin starts from the 235 radicals — the building blocks — and works up to kanji and the vocabulary built from them, one small level at a time.
How much is there to learn?
The full course is 100 levels — 235 radicals, over 2,000 kanji, and nearly 4,000 vocabulary words — in ten groups, from 根 Roots to 凪 Calm.
How are the mnemonics made?
Every character comes with a short, vivid story linking its parts to its meaning, so the shape becomes something you can picture and recall rather than memorise by rote.
How much time does it take?
A few minutes a day. Short lessons introduce a handful of characters, and quick reviews bring them back exactly when the timing is right.
Is Chikurin free?
Yes — you can start free and learn the first level right away, no card required.
Free to start
Start the first level today — no card, no catch. A few minutes is all it takes to begin.
Get started