Japanese characters may seem mysterious and difficult, but Read Japanese Today explains the writing system in a way that's clear and easy to understand. This proven approach teaches you the essential characters you need to know, how they developed and what their basic components are, so you can quickly decipher and learn new characters that you encounter later!This new edition includes:An introduction to the 142 hiragana and katakana phonetic characters every Japanese learner needs to knowDetailed, easy-to-understand descriptions of the 400 most common kanji characters complete with phonetic pronunciations, stroke order diagrams, and common words written with the characterSimple drawings that introduce each character to help you to remember it, explaining how it developed and what its various components areWriting practice problems so you can test yourself on the new characters and words