Hi all,
I was wondering if anyone has come across something for what is essentially a reverse-Wanikani, in that it quizzes on hirigana and makes you select the appropriate kanji vocab? I do not mean like Kaniwani, because this presents the English and asks for Kanji.
For several of the kanji I’ve learned, I’ve noticed I wouldn’t be able to pick the meaning from hirigana alone, due to WK forcing me into visuals rather than sounds. I’d like to boost my ability to read from hirigana alone.
Thanks!
That would be a pretty neat program to supplement our studies! But off the top of my head, the only thing I can think of to truly test your “reverse kanji” ability is to purchase Kanji test books that emulate the exams actual Japanese children take throughout all their years in school. Each question has a blank space with furigana next to it, and a short sentence to give you context clues on which kanji should be used.
Kakugo has this feature.
I’m not sure though, whether it will bring you the effects you’re hoping for. In the end, all the different study tools should get you into native material. Maybe also try out the Resources for Starting to Read Japanese Content and look into children’s books? They might be heavily relying on hiragana.
As for being able to read hiragana quickly, I recommend you keep practicing flash cards of them as fast as you can, and start reading directly from mangas, etc. that provide furigana. Even if you don’t understand what’s going on, it’s great exposure to reading hiragana back to back. Speed will definitely come with time and more exposure. Good luck!
Thanks I didn’t know about these, I’ll have a look around and see if I can acquire some 
I will make the transition to reading eventually, just as with everything I’m trying to smooth the ride somewhat Better if I can navigate a couple of pages instead of having to look up every second word. But you’re right, at some point I’ll have to bite the bullet.
I do think an app like this would be kind of interesting though. Often with everything I think up, someone has already built it, so thought I’d check 
Thanks for the helpful response!
Thanks I’ll check out Kakugo
I watch anime with combination subs at the moment, though I find I’m following along easier when I look at the kanji, thanks to WK. I guess it’s kind of my own fault a bit that I’m doing WK at the expense of more well-rounded japanese studies…
I went to the city library yesterday but their Japanese literature section was all full-novels, with a handful of lightnovels, all beyond me. I’ll need to order some from elsewhere or stick with online resources for now.
Totally get you 
I think the resources guide I linked in the previous post might be really helpful for you. The fellow durtles over there did an amazing job to accumulate reading resources and give some background about each resource. My first impression is the following section may be helpful for you to get into reading:
Kakugo is more a drilling app. They do Kana and Kanji and Vocab by JLPT. I checked with the vocab section and they have reading (kana) => kanji drill. So this might help you with what you proposed in the OP
Ah, so helpful, thank you! 
I have learnt a new word from Kakugo using kanji I already knew, 主役, or ‘lead role’ as in a lead actor. The system I was thinking of is exactly what they have, so you were spot on
I might not use it all the time, but it’s good to have another tool in the toolbelt, for when I feel like exploring the language further.
Edit: and I just learned 引き出す - to pull out. And 部長, department head! Kakugo is great!
As a reference here’s a picture of one that I purchased from a Japanese bookstore (Kinokuniya). If you don’t have the store near you (I live near NYC) they sell them online as well. The one I have is for 6th grade.
Here’s a link for you if you’re ever interested in purchasing online:
I‘m using Anki to basically do what you intend, I guess. For each vocab item, I have the following cards:
Kanji → Hiragana and English
Kana → English (here you would also check for the kanji, I think)
English → Kana (here you can also check for the Kanji)
English + Kana → Kanji (I write these down)
(Cards 1+4 get skipped when the word has no kanji or when it’s usually written in kana.)
These four cards represent the skills of reading, listening, speaking and writing. The process is slower because there are more cards, but I’m very happy with the results.
I’ve been using an Anki deck that does this (it’s to help prep for Kanji Kentei, so it teats your writing skills).
The deck is mentioned in the following thread:
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