Yes, I have already found his playlist on how to write beatiful Japanese.
Shortcuts! Yes please, writing shouldn’t be this laborious!
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Can I just add to this that recognizing a kanji and recollecting it from memory are two entirely different beasts. Kind of like being able to recognize your friend’s face but have absolutely no clue how to draw it from memory.
When typing Japanese on a digital keyboard you don’t need recollection, recognition is good enough.
知っている漢字を手で書くことが出来なくても欲しがっている漢字をみつけることが出来ます。
Yes, you don’t need to be able to draw a face from memory to recognise it, but being able to draw a face from memory means you remember it better, and might help you differentiate, for example, identical twins who have slightly different features because of their experiences over the years, because you know what makes them different. It’s the same with kanji.
Like I said above, the people who have used WK over the years without learning to write have proved that it’s not necessary to learn to write in order to be able to read, and you can use those reading skills to type using a digital keyboard. However, learning to write has its benefits, and many people, including on WK, have found it helpful for remembering kanji: writing skills can and typically do feed into kanji recognition skills.
Nonetheless, it’s entirely up to you to determine whether or not the benefits are worth the necessary investment. All I was suggesting above is that there may be a way to learn writing without pouring tons of time into it: I think even native speakers, when they’re first starting out, don’t remember all stroke orders perfectly, and it’s fairly common to remember a stroke order for one writing session only to find that you’ve forgotten some of it the next. I sincerely think it’s possible to pick up writing by writing each kanji just a few times (say, five times) while referring to a stroke order diagram, and then maybe attempting to do so once from memory, possibly going component by component. The stroke order won’t stick straightaway, but looking up the stroke order whenever you feel like it upon encountering the kanji again later, and mentally or physically tracing the kanji, will allow it to become natural. I’m a native speaker of Mandarin, so I’m speaking from experience: I just wanted to suggest that there may be a simpler way to learn writing if it interests you. However, I have no idea what you’ve done or experienced when learning to write those 150 kanji, and I’m sure you have your reasons, so once again, the decision is entirely yours to make.
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I handwrite all my homework and WhatsApp photos of it to my tutor (I used to have in-person classes so we just sort of defaulted to doing this when the pandemic hit) and have gradually decreased from a 0.5mm lead to a 0.3mm lead in order to keep it legible. Obviously the opportunity to indulge in buying some new stationery should not be overlooked as a motive for learning to write kanji 
This, and 5 minutes a day on the KanjiStudy app makes a huge difference to my recall of visually similar Kanji. I watch a lot of cafe review videos on YouTube and when they show the menu, a fairly high percentage of them are handwritten so I’ve always wanted to be sure I wouldn’t be out-foxed by handwriting. I’m reasonably fluent in German but have vivid memories of being in Munich and avoiding smaller cafes and restaurants because I just couldn’t decipher the handwritten menus (German handwriting is surprisingly different to English) so I wanted to make sure the same thing didn’t happen with Japanese.
I don’t worry about calligraphy but I am firm with myself on stroke order and trying to get proportions roughly correct. I have some kanji practice books but use squared notebooks for writing my homework. Again: think of stationery opportunities…
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Haha, it was the same for me with the stationary! “Oh look at those shiny notebooks! Maybe I’ll buy 5 just in case”
So you’re using 0.3mm already? Hmm I think mine are still 0.5mm. Do those 0.3mm not break more easily? Unfortunately, my handwriting is a little on the heavy side so I have to limit the length of the lead that sticks out from the pencil, otherwise I break it too quickly 
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Oh yes, just a general tip for anyone who wants a stroke order quick fix in a pinch (i.e. you just want to see how the kanji is written without having to dig through a dictionary, and you don’t need an animation you can pause):
Google ‘[kanji] 書き順’ (書き順 is literally ‘writing order’) and look at Google Images. You should get a few GIFs, including some from Kakijun.com, which are nice and clear. There should also be a few numbered stroke diagrams, if that’s what you prefer. By doing this, you avoid having to
- Open Jisho
- Search for the kanji
- Click the right search result
- Go to the stroke order section
It’s much faster this way.
I didn’t even know 0.3mm leads existed! They might break more easily though.
I think 0.5mm is fine though (that’s what I use). You should try to vary the amount of pressure you use as you write in order to change stroke thickness as necessary. Over time, that should make breakage less common.
PS: Don’t worry about having to ‘limit’ lead length: I think we all do it. A 0.5mm-diameter stick is bound to be fragile no matter what it’s made of!
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Neither did I until I went searching online for replacement 0.5mms when all the shops were closed and then I was like ‘woah’.
I use the Pentel Ain Stein leads - I’d say the 0.3mm Ain Stein lead breaks more no more frequently than the 0.5mm standard ones.
It is probably overkill for most things, but they’re invaluable if you’re trying to fit your answer into the pathetic tiny gap that Minna No Nihongo gives you in their workbooks!
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I actually saw Pentel 0.3mm leads with a pencil in the stationary section of a local supermarket, but went with no-name 0.5mm leads, because the package had 2 pencils + a full casing of extra leads and was half the price of the Pentel pencil. At the pace I’m burning through notebooks and leads… 
.
Or do you think it’s worth the investment? 
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If you’re worried about your pencil lead breaking, you can always try fine tipped pens! My go-to pen for taking notes is a 0.38mm Pilot Juice Gel Ink Ballpoint Pen. It’s fine enough that you can write pretty small in your notes and still see all of the strokes in the kanji.
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You have the best username. That’s all.
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Whenever I burn a Kanji I add it to an Anki deck with cards that look like this. When reviewing I either handwrite the Kanji or I use the handwriting pad tool with a stylus on the mobile app. It’s been working pretty well so far.
This has also had the side effect of getting me really into loving nice fountain pens.
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I picked up a kura toga pipe slide automatic pencil (0.5mm) and it’s been wonderful. The self sharpening mechanism(it rotates the lead slightly whenever you lift and press down again for another stroke) does wonders for my writing. I’ve also been using quad rule graph notebooks to copy down the WK kanji and vocab, just to get a bit of extra practice to help everything stick in my head somewhere.
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Mr. Flibble is pleased. Not cross at all. He will spare you his hex vision.
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