The Japanese adopted these Chinese-style characters into their language around the fifth century A.D. Each kanji character conveys a particular meaning and, depending upon the context, can have various pronunciations. While the characters at first appear similar to Chinese, many have evolved in sound and style, and the meaning can actually be quite different in Japanese.

Japanese is usually written using a combination of hiragana, katakana and kanji scripts. We will discuss hiragana and katakana some more in another article, but kanji are those really complicated looking characters. Originally the kanji symbols developed from simple pictograms, but over time have become more refined and combined with others can express many different meanings.

After learning the basic greetings and phrases in Japanese, you will probably soon realize that in order to get deeper into the language you are going to need to ramp things up a bit and take the plunge into the dreaded kanji. For kanji study a great deal of patience is required, and there are some excellent books available on the topic.

Japanese usually learn kanji when young, spending many hours writing them over and over until memorized. However for a foreigner who wishes to study the Japanese language, exploring the meaning behind each character along with a good set of kanji flashcards can really help to reinforce the memory. These kind of kanji study aids along with a good kanji dictionary are a great help and make learning the kanji an enjoyable and rewarding experience!

Kanji characters have experienced a rise in popularity in the West in recent years, and many people can now be seen sporting a kanji symbol tattoo. It is very important to consult a native Japanese speaker for a correct translation when designing your tattoo, as there have been instances of them being down back to front or upside down! Combining multiple characters together, if not done carefully can have unintended and very embarrassing consequences!

One of the most famous collections of woodblock prints is the “36 Views of Mount Fuji” series by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849). Japanese ukiyo-e feature the almost sacred mountain heavily.

This collection includes the renowned “In the Hollow of a Wave off the Coast at Kanagawa” - popularly known in the West as simply “The Great Wave”. In this print Mt Fuji is dwarfed by a giant tsunami in the foreground, its whitecaps about to crash down upon the terrified fishermen in their boat below.

These ukiyo-e prints have become very popular lately, and can be found adorning all sorts of things - I have even seen this particular print available as an iPod cover!

The Swallowtail has recently opened in Tokyo, offering a fresh twist on the maid cafes that have proven so popular with nerdy otaku type men. Instead of cute girls dressed in maid costumes, this new cafe caters to female clientele and features strapping young men dressed to the nines in butler uniforms of old.