I’ve been using WaniKani on and off since 2017 (!) and am only now reaching level 60, more than 9 years later.
I started learning Japanese as an adult, with a full time job, a family life and various other activities, so I knew I would never fly through my reviews. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.
Honestly, reaching level 60 felt kind of underwhelming to me. I still take the longest time to read even just one page of paperback. Yes, I now need my dictionary a lot less, but differentiating visually similar kanjis is very frustrating and time consuming. And some sadistic authors seem to love using outdated kanjis that are NOT in WaniKani, even for basic sentences! Why am I learning all this if you use other ones?! (I once stumbled upon 謂う instead of 言う)
On the other hand, I felt a lot more satisfaction reaching level 30, because from then on, you’ve learned the most recurrent and useful kanjis for everyday use.
WaniKani is a great tool, but it’s “just” for kanjis. Don’t make it your only source of learning. Read, watch your favorite shows with Japanese subtitles, find “penpals” online… There is so much more to the Japanese language than kanjis. (By the way, I could really use a WaniKani equivalent for onomatoaepias)
Never give up, it’s all worth it. And don’t feel bad if you don’t reach level 60, or if you think that you are not leveling up fast enough. This app is a means, not the end. At least try to get to 30 to grasp the most useful ones. You’ll learn the last kanjis when you meet them in their natural habitat. Some of them, even Japanese people can’t recognize and read!
Anyway, all the best to you Japanese learners.
Matthhou, a humble level 60
First of congratulations to level 60.
Next: If you browse the forums you’ll see that you are not alone with your opinion. Strong recommendation to actually use the language everywhere.
You and me both, you and me both. They are one of my worst leeches and on top of that feel endless…
The real endgame content starts after finishing level 60 - reading manga, news websites, light novels, manga (it’s okay to start even earlier than 60)
I’m disappointed that I can’t get complex physical Japanese books where I live and I would get hit with super high tariffs if I buy them from amazon.jp, I would have to wait until I go to Japan again or a few Asian countries with sizeable Japanese expat population to buy complex Japanese books
For now, I am getting AI to write lengthy summaries on all Japanese historical periods so I can read them in Japanese
I mean you don’t have to limit yourself to physical books. You can always use amazon or bookwalker for digital books.
Alternatively, there’s also https://syosetu.com/ where some light novels get traction before actually being published by a publisher. For classical literature you can be content with https://www.aozora.gr.jp/ where you can find classics such as こころ or 人間失格 and many others for free.
If you have an eink-reader it already comes pretty close to the actual book experience
I prefer physical books myself, but it would be a waste to not use the advantages given to us by technology if they provide something decent as well.
It’s a hassle to read e-books on a phone or tablet for hours, I prefer doing the classic lying on the bed and reading a paper book. Not to mention that in the ideal scenario where I have absolutely nothing else to do like when I’m on a flight to a different province or country, the device will likely run out of battery before the flight is done
As another level 60 guy I totally agree. When I started Wanikani I expected that at 60 I’d be able to read pretty much anything. The reality is wildly, wildly different.
I’m in Japan right now and whilst I recognise a lot of kanji the actual words they form I very often don’t know. I can have a guess, but I won’t know for sure. And as for reading menus and place names? I’m totally out of my depth. And understanding things like commentaries at festivals, they may as well be in Greek. (I don’t speak Greek)
I’ve been building multiple decks on Marumori here in Japan, for words I commonly see but don’t know. Sadly I’m heading home soon but it’s been an illuminating experience, humbling even.
Japanese is an incredibly difficult language, it just is, it’s difficult at every level. Wanikani is just one very small step in a very lengthy, very time consuming journey.
Thanks for your post. I’m not at level 60. I’m still in the 40’s. But I’m surprised at how little I can read. I have always suspected that, even when I reach level 60, I still won’t be able to read much. Perhaps this is the deep dark secret of Wanikani,…that even when you reach 60 you still can’t read a menu. I’m going to stay with Wanikani because at least they introduce me to a Kanji and test me on it several times. And you’re right. Japanese is hard. It’s stupid hard. Because,…because it’s Japanese.
I’ve been watching Japanese news and videos on YouTube with Japanese subtitles for the past 2 years, I just add those words I don’t know into my anki deck (words from video games too)
As for food names in menus, you’ll just have to make custom flash cards, add the pics if the app allows it. I went to the konbini and saizeriya most of the time when I went to Japan so it was mostly katakana
I don’t know where you live, but sometimes big cities can hide surprises. I found Japanes novels, in Japanese, in the big bookstore in London, UK (I forget the name right now, the one that’s 5 or 6 stories high, next to Picaddilly Circus)
There is also a specialized bookstore in Paris, France, with all the books, mangas and magazines, called Junku.
In the north of France, in Lille, there is the Librairie VO selling books in several languages, including Japanese. They don’t have all the titles obviously, but enough for different levels and tastes…
What I mean is, don’t rely only on big stores like Amazon or expensive imports. Ask around, maybe you’ll find something nearer to you.
Most of time time it depends on the age of the Japanese community in a city outside of Japan or whether there are enough rich non Japanese Otakus, the problem is that most otakus outside of Japan are mostly interested in manga so it is very easy to get Japanese language Japanese manga but very hard to get anything else. The younger Japanese people outside of Japan just read books digitally so complex books are not going to be imported for them
I also want some very normal books like the official Japanese dictionary 2026 edition, history books written by Japanese people, animal encyclopedia, business books, properly law books, self help books, novels, and light novels. I found the really big and thick Berserk compendium style books at a Japanese bookstore locally but I was disappointed that it was in English instead of Japanese
Sunday 9 August update: after reading my own post, I remembered a province in my country where there are lots of Japanese factories and the Japanese population are 95% men aged 35-60+. I remembered combing the city semi thoroughly and not finding a Japanese book store or Japanese book library so I deduced that they must be disguised as a restaurant, cafe, or store. I drove 70 kilometers to that province today and combed through the restaurants and cafes until I found a Japanese book library disguised as a cafe, 10% of the building was a cafe while the rest is a library. The place has way better selection of Japanese books than even the library set up by [The Japan Foundation] for foreigners since this one is set up for middle aged and elderly Japanese citizens, they have history books, self help books, light novels, and popular mangas from the 80s till present day. The used books are also for sale but the quality is worse than ones in Japan’s bookoff while being more expensive (privately owned foreign language book libraries and convenience stores have to have a dining area and be labelled as a cafe or restaurant because of government licence issues)
At least for the French books, the French embassy have made their library available to foreign citizens, and my memory have gotten so good recently that I think I can memorize entire books by just reading them twice. I think I’ll just read the embassy’s entire library within 6 months, I’ll start with all the Tintin and Asterix comic books
The German government also has a German language school named Goethe Institute outside of Germany, the library is usually open to everyone so it will be easy to read all the German books available there
It does feel funny that nobody reads books where I live so I’m usually the only person reading a book in a library whether it’s a local library or one owned by a foreign government, everyone else is just playing with their smartphones
ありがとうございました。このワニカニの経験を読んで来て、応援させていただいて嬉しい。是体に諦められないです。I’m enjoying this WaniKani site so much…今 death and hell に入れて、and learning a lot of good 漢字 that keeps my mind engaged and active. レベル６０までにいつでも着いて頑張ります。
