How Many Kanji Per Day Should You Learn?

December 2, 2025 •

4 min read

According to education standards in Japan, it takes students nine years to learn the 2,136 essential Jōyō kanji. Therefore, for non-native learners, the question of "how many kanji per day" should be answered with a focus on sustainable progress, not aggressive cramming. Your ideal daily goal will depend on your learning style, schedule, and fluency objectives, whether it's for basic conversation or advanced reading.

Quick Summary

The ideal number of kanji to learn daily depends on individual factors like time commitment and learning level. Sustainable progress, rather than high daily counts, prevents burnout. Factors like learning methods and long-term goals heavily influence a realistic pace for effective memorization and fluency.

Key Points

Start Slowly and Consistently: For beginners, a manageable pace of 5 to 10 new kanji per day prevents burnout and ensures better retention.
Prioritize Quality Over Quantity: It is more effective to thoroughly learn a few kanji each day and review them consistently than to cram a large number and forget them later.
Use Spaced Repetition Systems (SRS): SRS apps like Anki or MochiKanji are crucial for scheduling reviews at optimal intervals, transferring kanji to your long-term memory.
Learn with Context: Study kanji by using them in vocabulary words and example sentences, rather than in isolation, to reinforce their meaning and usage.
Focus on Radicals First: Understanding the basic building blocks of kanji (radicals) can help you remember and decipher more complex characters efficiently.
Practice Active Writing: Physically writing out kanji, paying attention to stroke order, helps build muscle memory that improves recall and recognition.
Align Your Pace with Your Goals: Your daily kanji count should reflect your objectives, whether it's passing a JLPT level or achieving newspaper-level fluency.

Finding Your Personal Kanji Learning Pace

There is no universal answer to how many kanji per day one should learn, as the best approach is highly personalized. While a beginner might find success with a small, consistent number, an intermediate learner might be able to handle a more intensive pace. The key is to find a balance between memorizing new characters and effectively reviewing older ones to ensure long-term retention. A high number of new kanji can quickly lead to an unmanageable volume of daily reviews, causing burnout and poor retention.

Self-Assessing Your Daily Capacity

To determine a realistic daily target, start by evaluating your personal capacity and available study time. This helps prevent setting arbitrary, unachievable goals that can lead to demotivation. Consider your overall Japanese study plan, which should also include grammar, vocabulary, and listening practice, not just kanji. A common beginner range is 5 to 10 new kanji per day, which is a manageable number that allows time for thorough practice without being overwhelming. For example, learning 5 new kanji daily could lead to mastering 2,000 characters in just over a year.

The Importance of Consistent Review

Learning a kanji once is not enough; it needs to be cemented into your long-term memory through consistent, active recall. Spaced Repetition Systems (SRS), available through apps like Anki and MochiKanji, are highly effective for this. An SRS schedules review sessions for you, showing you flashcards just as you are about to forget the information. This method ensures that the number of daily reviews grows alongside your new kanji intake, reinforcing your knowledge. A study routine should allocate sufficient time for these reviews to prevent a buildup of forgotten characters.

Factors Influencing Your Learning Speed

Several factors can influence how many kanji you can realistically learn and retain each day.

Prior Knowledge: Learners who already know Chinese characters may have an easier time with kanji due to shared origins. Understanding kanji radicals—the component parts that give clues to meaning—can also significantly speed up the process.
Methodology: Using mnemonics, like creating stories or visual associations, can make memorization faster and more effective than simple rote repetition.
Goals and Context: A student preparing for the JLPT N5, which requires about 100 kanji, can follow a different pace than someone aiming for newspaper-level fluency, which demands over 2,000 characters. Learning kanji in context, through reading or media, also reinforces learning better than studying characters in isolation.

Comparing Learning Paces and Outcomes


Kanji Per Day	Time to Learn 2000 Characters	Pros	Cons
5-10	400 to 200 days (13 to 7 months)	Sustainable, reduces burnout, allows time for other language skills.	Slower path to advanced fluency.
10-20	200 to 100 days (7 to 3 months)	Faster progress, good for intensive courses.	Requires more daily time, higher risk of burnout, high review load.
2-3	Over 600 days (20+ months)	Extremely sustainable, minimal daily time commitment, excellent long-term retention.	Very slow progression, may not feel satisfying.
Variable (Auto-regulated)	Varies greatly	Adapts to energy levels, less stress.	Less consistent progress, requires self-monitoring.

Expert Tips for Organizing Your Daily Study

To manage your daily kanji load effectively, adopt smart study habits.

Use an SRS app: Download a spaced repetition app like Anki and find a high-quality, pre-made kanji deck. The app's algorithm will automatically manage your reviews, leaving you to focus on learning new material and practicing.
Start with radicals: Before diving into kanji, learn the 214 traditional radicals. This provides a structural foundation, making complex kanji feel less intimidating. Some kanji courses, like the Heisig method, are built around this principle.
Prioritize common kanji: Focus on high-frequency kanji first, such as those included in the JLPT N5 and N4 curricula. These are the most practical for everyday use and reading.
Practice actively: Don't just look at a kanji; write it down multiple times to build muscle memory. Writing reinforces visual memory and is essential for long-term recall, even in a digital age.
Integrate kanji into context: Read simple Japanese materials like children's books, manga, or graded readers that use the kanji you are learning. This shows you how characters are used naturally within words and sentences.
Listen to native audio: Listening to Japanese media while reading the subtitles helps connect the written kanji to their spoken forms and readings, particularly the more complex ones.

Conclusion

Ultimately, the ideal number of kanji per day is the amount you can consistently study and review without getting overwhelmed. Most language learning experts recommend a modest pace of 5 to 10 new kanji daily, reinforced with spaced repetition. This approach prioritizes quality over quantity, ensuring you build a solid and sustainable foundation for Japanese literacy. Remember that consistency is far more valuable than speed; a slower, steady pace will lead to better long-term results and help you reach your fluency goals. Don't be afraid to adjust your pace as you go, listening to what your own capacity tells you.

Frequently Asked Questions

For most learners, especially beginners, learning 20 new kanji a day is too aggressive and can lead to burnout. This pace can be overwhelming and may not allow for the necessary review to retain the information long-term. A more sustainable pace of 5-10 kanji daily is generally recommended.

For beginners, a manageable starting point is 5 to 10 kanji per day. This allows enough time to properly learn each character's readings, meanings, and stroke order without getting overwhelmed by the review load that accumulates over time.

Daily consistency is far more effective for long-term retention. Cramming a large number of kanji at once leads to poor recall. A consistent, smaller daily effort reinforced by spaced repetition is the proven method for moving kanji into your long-term memory.

Yes, learning radicals is an excellent strategy. By understanding the basic components of kanji, you can break down and remember new, complex characters more effectively, which can indirectly allow you to handle a slightly higher daily learning rate.

For the JLPT N5, you need to learn approximately 100 kanji. Learning 5-10 kanji per week, combined with dedicated review using an SRS, can comfortably prepare you for the exam in a matter of months.

No, it is not necessary or recommended to learn all possible readings at once, as some kanji have many. Focus on the most common Onyomi and Kunyomi readings associated with practical vocabulary as you encounter it.

Learning 2,000 kanji can take anywhere from a year to several years, depending on your pace. For example, learning 5 kanji a day takes just over 13 months, while 10 a day takes about 7 months. A reasonable, sustainable pace for a dedicated learner is about two years.