# Remembering the Kanji

> Official flashcard and review app for the Heisig method of learning Japanese kanji. (iPhone/iPad app by Mirai Apps.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/remembering-the-kanji/id424471278 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Mirai Apps](https://appshunter.io/developer/913913389)
- Category: Education, Reference
- Price: $10.99
- Rating: 3.50/5 from 23 App Store ratings · 152 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 12.0 · 23 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2011-03-23
- Data updated: 2026-09-03
- Monetization: paid
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/remembering-the-kanji/id424471278/reviews.md

## What is Remembering the Kanji?

"Remembering the Kanji" (Official flashcard and review app for the Heisig method) is a kanji learning App to complement the bestselling kanji books “Remembering the Kanji” (Volumes I, II & III), by Dr. James W. Heisig.
* Now updated for Edition 6 of Volume I.

For over 40 years, users have benefited from the highly effective Heisig Method for learning Japanese kanji. With this sole official “Remembering the Kanji” app, you now have review slides and flashcards for over 3,000 kanji available on your mobile device! This App is available only on the App Store!

Reviews for the Heisig Method:
***** “Fastest way to learn all 2000” — L.S. (Texas)
***** “A great gem in kanji learning” — Z.N.
***** “Fantastic for achieving literacy” — S.C. (Michigan)
***** “It's actually fun! And ‘fun’ matters!” — F.T.
***** “I'd recommend this for serious learners of Japanese” — E.H. (Illinois)

What is special about this App?
- It is portable, allowing for review anywhere, anytime, without the need for an internet connection.
- It is the first and only authorized "Remembering the Kanji" App.
- It is customizable to your needs and preferences.
- It has an easy-to-use interface.
- It is reasonably priced.

What this great App can help you with:
- Creating your own study lists and generating flashcards for you to review what you have learned — You’ll love the flashcards function!
- Saving notes for your own imaginative mnemonic stories for each kanji in "Remembering the Kanji" Volume I. Whenever you need to jog your memory to recall the story behind a kanji — refer to the App!
- Learning the stroke order of each and every kanji with fantastic animated diagrams!
- Practicing drawing each kanji with your finger on screen, and comparing your result with a written form of the kanji.
- Learning the readings (pronunciations) of each and every kanji in "Remembering the Kanji". Also, learn the readings of kanji combination words (jukugo).
- Reviewing each lesson for Volumes I, II & III of the "Remembering the Kanji" books with easy-to-use review slides.
- Looking up the meaning of primitive elements quickly.
- Looking up kanji by stroke number.
- Searching for key words and finding the kanji you want in an instant.

Take your kanji knowledge to the next level with this convenient and easy-to-use App!

Copyright Notice:
Kanji data is Copyright © 2013 James W. Heisig
KanjiVG data is Copyright © 2013 Ulrich Apel

## Key features

- Flashcards and review slides
- Customizable study lists
- Mnemonic story saving
- Animated stroke order diagrams
- On-screen drawing practice
- Learn kanji readings and jukugo
- Offline access

## What do users think of Remembering the Kanji?

Overall sentiment: mixed

**Pros**

- 📚 Excellent companion to Heisig books
- ✍️ Stroke order animations and writing practice
- 🎯 Organized by lessons for easy review
- 📋 Customizable study lists
- 💾 Ability to add personal stories and notes
- 🔄 Flip between RTK 1 and RTK 2 editions
- 🎨 Beautiful, intuitive interface design
- 📖 Comprehensive kanji reference with primitives
- ⌨️ Multiple keyboard support for input

**Cons**

- 📖 No Heisig stories included (copyright issues)
- 🔄 Lacks spaced repetition system (SRS)
- 📱 Portrait mode only, no landscape support
- 🔍 Search defaults to numbers instead of letters
- 💾 Data loss after updates (study lists, stories)
- 🐛 Backup function crashes on Apple devices
- 📝 Limited space for story/notes section
- ⚙️ Settings don't persist between sessions
- 🔗 No cross-referencing between primitives
- 💰 Expensive for feature set ($10)
- ❌ Missing some kanji from latest book editions
- 🎮 No progress tracking or achievement system

**Commonly reported bugs**

- Study lists and stories deleted after updates
- Backup crashes on iOS devices
- App crashes when adding multiple kanji to study list
- Flashcard progress not saving
- Import function crashes with CSV files
- Stroke order differs from book for some kanji
- App crashes on older devices (iPhone 3G, iPad 2)
- Flashcard settings reset when switching modes
- Lessons skip kanji from book
- Notes not displaying on flashcards
- Study list progress not resuming after pause
- Occasional crashes during flashcard function

**Most requested features**

- Include Heisig stories from the book
- Add spaced repetition system (SRS/Anki-style)
- Landscape/split-screen support for iPad
- Search default to alphabetical letters
- Expand story/notes display area
- Clickable primitive elements linking to related kanji
- Progress tracking and resume functionality
- Audio pronunciation support
- Kanji compound meaning translations on flashcards
- Highlight/bold/italicize text in story area
- Drawing practice integrated into flashcard review
- Sync progress across devices
- RTK 3 support
- Visual progress indicators and motivation features
- Backup to cloud storage
- Timed repetition system

## Recent user reviews (10 of 152)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/remembering-the-kanji/id424471278/reviews.md

### 4/5 — Good app but please add ability to say if we got a flash card right or wrong and if wrong show again

*2026-07-10*

Really good companion app to the book and it’s great to have the flash cards ready to add to a list as you work through the chapters. Two things to make it even better: can you please let us say if we got a flash card correct or not, and if we didn’t, keep showing it in the queue until we mark it as correct. Secondly, can you let Apple Pencil features work with the writing. It’s great to use the pencil but would be amazing if the erase function worked so we don’t have to start from scratch!

### 5/5 — Wonderful companion app to book!

*2026-06-10*

Lovely app. Thank you! If there was any suggestion for easier studying for the way I learn would be to have a form of next button when in writing practice mode so do not have to go back two screens to practice writing the following kanji in the same lesson.

### 2/5 — Limited

*2025-05-04*

Useful as a reference to quickly recall primitive elements for the kanji. No stories are provided (likely due to copyright). It would be helpful if you could reveal the kanji elements to see how some kanji build upon one another. Instead, many say “Please consult the book”.

### 4/5 — Landscape mode for iPad would be great

*2024-05-21*

Really like the app but would be even happier with it if it had a landscape mode (for iPad at least) as that would make it way easier to write stories using a keyboard!

### 3/5 — Useful but sorely needs updating

*2021-09-29*

This app is useful, particularly in combination with other Japanese learning apps and the associated book. But it has some annoying (and likely easy to fix) limitations. Reasons for taking off two stars are:
- only works in portrait mode, so it is very annoying to turn tablet around, when using in combination with other apps that can support either portrait or landscape
- search mode is set to numbers, and cannot be defaulted to letters 
- since presumably is a companion to a book, why is it not pre-populated with said book’s stories?

If these issues were addressed, it could be a 4 or 5 star app.

### 3/5 — No Heisig story???

*2021-09-01*

Pros-
Organizes all 3 books by lesson
Using writing as part of the flash card(and being able to compare it yourself as opposed to fighting with a writing AI)

Cons-
Setting up your own flash cards can’t be done from the kanji study itself and need to go into index

No Heisig stories which are the core of the teaching style!!! Writing your own story can defeat the purpose because if you mislabel a primitive you can mess up learning other primaries and kanji.

### 5/5 — Awesome.

*2020-11-07, version 3.5*

Love this app. No longer need a box of pesky flash cards. Very helpful and great system for learning Kanji.

### 2/5 — No update for 5 years !

*2020-09-13*

Good and useful app to learn and polish your kanji but no update for 5 years !
Seems to be a dead app. Distributor’s web site does not exist anymore...

### 5/5 — Best App for Heisig method

*2020-08-27*

Don’t believe naysayers — this app is amazing and worth the money, especially if you’re already using the accompanying books to learn Kanji via Heisig method. 

Pros: 
-Kanji separated out by lessons, easy review
-Practice reading kanji 
-Practice writing kanji 
-Primitives given on back of card
-Blank space (“story” area) to make use of Heisig’s story or memorable mnemonics OR ability to create your own. This is a fantastic space to expand or link knowledge (like Chinese v Japanese words/additional references). Also the ability to use any installed keyboard (Chinese, Japanese) and not just English keyboard support is fantastic! 
-Watch kanji being drawn in real time with stroke order — super clean, beautifully scripted
-Ability to create your own study lists 
-Chinese readings index
-Japanese readings index 

The only con I see is that it doesn’t offer automatic timed repetition (like Anki), but this is minor considering that the app isn’t just meant to be a basic flashcard review app. The true worth of this app is to have you structure/stack your knowledge while you’re actively learning, so that you can rehearse it later with ease. Genius :)

### 1/5 — Very disappointed

*2020-08-05*

I should have read the reviews before spending $10 on this app. Without the stories this is just a robust kanji dictionary, and there are plenty of other free or cheaper apps that do the same thing. I’m going to try to get a refund

## Frequently asked questions about Remembering the Kanji

### What is this app for?

This app is an official companion to the "Remembering the Kanji" books by Dr. James W. Heisig. It provides flashcards, review slides, and interactive tools to help users learn Japanese kanji effectively using the Heisig method.

### What are the key features of this kanji learning app?

Key features include customizable flashcards and review lists, the ability to save mnemonic stories for each kanji, animated stroke order diagrams, on-screen drawing practice, and learning kanji readings and jukugo. It also offers offline access for convenient study.

### How much does this app cost?

The app is reasonably priced and available for purchase on the App Store. Specific pricing details can be found on the app's store page. There are no in-app purchases or ads.

### What devices is this app compatible with?

This app is available exclusively on the App Store, meaning it is compatible with Apple devices such as iPhones and iPads. The description does not specify minimum iOS version requirements.

### Who would benefit from using this app?

This app is ideal for serious learners of Japanese who are using or plan to use the "Remembering the Kanji" book series. It's particularly useful for those who want a portable and interactive way to memorize kanji, practice writing, and learn their readings.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 4.17 — 2026-05-18

Here is the latest update:
- Fixed chinese readings for frame

Checkout similar programs from our partner in other platforms.
Super Heisig - AnkiWeb

Anki - powerful, intelligent flashcards (ankiweb.net)

Contact us at the email below for more information, crash reports, and the like.
contact@mirai.co.id
Thank you very much for your support.

### 4.16 — 2025-12-02

Here is the latest update:
- Adjusted search results for some Kanjis


Checkout similar programs from our partner in other platforms.
Super Heisig - AnkiWeb

Anki - powerful, intelligent flashcards (ankiweb.net)

Contact us at the email below for more information, crash reports, and the like.
contact@mirai.co.id
Thank you very much for your support.

### 4.15 — 2025-11-06

Here is the latest update:
- Fixed crash during export in iPad


Checkout similar programs from our partner in other platforms.
Super Heisig - AnkiWeb

Anki - powerful, intelligent flashcards (ankiweb.net)

Contact us at the email below for more information, crash reports, and the like.
contact@mirai.co.id
Thank you very much for your support.

### 4.13 — 2025-01-03

Here is the latest update:
- Fixed typo in primitive


Checkout similar programs from our partner in other platforms.
Super Heisig - AnkiWeb

Anki - powerful, intelligent flashcards (ankiweb.net)

Contact us at the email below for more information, crash reports, and the like.
contact@mirai.co.id
Thank you very much for your support.

### 4.12 — 2024-07-04

Here is the latest update:
- Fixed duplicate primitive and wrong primitive


Checkout similar programs from our partner in other platforms.
Super Heisig - AnkiWeb

Anki - powerful, intelligent flashcards (ankiweb.net)

Contact us at the email below for more information, crash reports, and the like.
contact@mirai.co.id
Thank you very much for your support.

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## More apps by Mirai Apps

- [Mirai Kana Chart - Hiragana & Katakana Writing Study Tool](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mirai-kana-chart-hiragana-and-katakana-writing-study-tool/id600218946)
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All apps by Mirai Apps: https://appshunter.io/developer/913913389

## Related topics

[the kodansha kanji usage guide](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/the-kodansha-kanji-usage-guide)

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-03.*