Jouyou Kanji VS Wanikani Kanji

Hi there,

Quick question about the kanji we learn here in WK and the jouyou kanji list. I have read that the jouyou list is kinda required for fluency and everyday life. There is officially 2136 kanji in there.

Wanikani teaches 2048.

I would like your opinion on that 88 kanji difference. Are those 88 kanji still important to learn for everyday life / to be fully fonctionnal in japanse? Is it worth learning?

I’m asking because after I reach 60, i was thinking about fully turning my studies towards conversation and reading and put kanji learning on the side since I pretty much know all that is needed.

Thank you!

**Edit : Also, is it true that WK teaches you some kanji that are NOT in the jouyou list, which would increase the difference of 88 slithly ?

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Personally, I suggest learning the kanji as you see words using them (learn them together). We’re at a point where non WK kanji are mostly used in 1/2 common words and that’s it, so I think that the WK approach here doesn’t make sense.

By counting from this page, it seems they’re in total 155 kanji.

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No, you probably wouldn’t encounter any of the missing kanji in your day-to-day life, unless they happen to fall in whatever subject area you enjoy chatting about. For example, if you’re interested by the minitutae of the Japanese emperor, then you might want to learn 璽 (= emperor’s seal) on your own.

Yeah. There’s fifty-seven kanji on the jinmeiyou list.

wkstats (scroll down the bottom)

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Not all of the 2136 fit that description. Some are not really common in any sense of the word.

繭 (まゆ, cocoon) is a cool kanji, but it’s not really required for everyday life. I’ve never personally encountered it except when studying the joyo list, though I imagine I could go out of my way to read about moths or something.

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