Our Mission

At Forbidden Kanji our mission is simple: to help anyone — yes, anyone — master the 2,000 kanji needed to read real Japanese.

That’s about the same number every Japanese high school graduate knows. Sounds impossible, right? It’s not. The truth is, your brain is perfectly capable of it — if you use the right method. You don’t need to be Japanese, grow up in Japan, or have superpowers. You just need a system that works with your memory, not against it.

There's people who have lived in Japan for ten or twenty years and speak beautiful Japanese… but still can’t read a newspaper headline. We think that’s a tragedy — and we’re here to fix it.

To reach that goal, we focus on a few key things:

• Efficiency. We respect your time. Learn more in less time, skip what you already know, and study smarter — not longer.
• Freedom. Choose your own pace and your own path. You’re the pilot - we just hand you a better map.
• Accessibility. Language shouldn’t be a barrier to learning a language. We’re starting with English and Spanish, but plan to expand soon into as many languages as we can.
• Affordability. Learning shouldn’t cost a fortune. Our goal is to keep the site free (with optional donations) so anyone with an internet connection can join in.
• Completeness. While we’re kanji-obsessed, as a bonus we also offer Kana-only Vocab — because you’ll need those too. Think of it as a full meal, not just the rice.

Our dream is simple: make reading Japanese something anyone can do — and maybe even enjoy along the way.