Hello everyone! 
From September 24 to October 22, 2025, we’re rolling out a new round of additions and level movements to your WaniKani lessons.
This update specifically focuses on directional items related to 東 (East), 西 (West), 南 (South), and 北 (North). Here’s why:
Some of you might remember we recently switched the kanji 北’s primary reading from on’yomi (ほく) to kun’yomi (きた). The reason is that 北 is used on its own as a word, and when the kanji and vocab readings don’t match, it can create confusion. In some cases, we keep a kanji’s primary reading as on’yomi if it’s mostly used in on’yomi compounds. But for 北, so many everyday words use the kun’yomi (北国, 北風, 北口), so it made more sense to teach the kun’yomi first and introduce the on’yomi through compounds later.
In line with that change, we’re now updating the remaining three directional kanji — 東, 西, and 南. We’ll be:
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Switching the primary readings for 東, 西, and 南 to their kun’yomi, and updating related vocab.
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Adding more words to help reinforce different readings gradually.
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Moving some items for scaffolding.
One of the new additions is 大西洋 (Atlantic Ocean) at level 12. Since it’s similar in appearance and meaning to 太平洋 (Pacific Ocean) at level 11, we reviewed other words using the kanji 太 and 洋 to space out the two ocean words and scaffold related vocabulary as well.
We understand that changes like this can feel disruptive, especially if you’ve gotten used to older readings. To ease the transition, we’re adding warning messages to the old readings. This means if you type an older reading that’s no longer primary, you’ll get a gentle nudge to try again instead of being marked wrong. We hope this helps make the learning process smoother and less frustrating.
As always, there’s no downtime, and you don’t need to do anything special. Anything you’ve already started learning will stay in your queue — you won’t lose any progress.
Below you’ll find the full list of changes. We’ve spread out related items across five batches so you don’t get too many items at different levels all at once. Each batch comes with a short note explaining the reasoning behind the moves.
Thank you for your understanding and for continuing to study with us. Happy reviewing! 
1. Wed, September 24, 2025 (1 addition and 9 movements) – Published
New Items
- 北国 (vocab) - we’re adding this vocab to level 7
Level Changes
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Level 3: 太る (vocab) - we’re moving up to level 4
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Level 3: 太字 (vocab) - we’re moving up to level 5
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Level 11: 太平洋 (vocab) - we’re moving up to level 16
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Level 11: 洋食 (vocab) - we’re moving up to level 12
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Level 11: 洋風 (vocab) - we’re moving up to level 13
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Level 12: 陽 (kanji) - we’re moving up to level 15
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Level 12: 太陽 (vocab) - we’re moving up to level 15
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Level 12: 陽気 (vocab) - we’re moving up to level 16
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Level 46: 太 (radical) - we’re moving down to level 3
Reasoning:
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Vocab 北国: We’re adding this to help consolidate the kun’yomi for 北.
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All the 太,陽, and 洋-related items (radical 太, kanji 陽, vocab 太る, 太字, 太平洋, 洋食, 洋風, 太陽, 陽気):
- We’re moving the radical 太 to the same level as the kanji 太, so that it can be a prerequisite of that kanji. 太る and 太字 are moving up so that learners can gradually practice the kun’yomi reading of 太 after learning 太い at level 3. 洋食 and 洋風 are also being moved up for progressive learning, as level 11 already has enough vocabulary with 洋. The kanji 陽 and the vocab 太陽 are moving to level 15 ahead of 太平洋, which will move up to level 16. This adjustment also helps space out 太平洋 and 大西洋, which will be later added at level 12, to avoid interference. Finally, 陽気 will move up one level after 太陽 for better scaffolding.
2. Wed, October 1, 2025 (2 additions and 6 movements) – Published
New Items
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南アフリカ (vocab) - we’re adding this vocab to level 8
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南国 (vocab) - we’re adding this vocab to level 9
Level Changes
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Level 6: 南 (kanji) - we’re moving up to level 7
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Level 6: 南 (vocab) - we’re moving up to level 7
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Level 6: 南東 (vocab) - we’re moving up to level 10
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Level 8: 南口 (vocab) - we’re moving down to level 7
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Level 8: 南米 (vocab) - we’re moving up to level 9
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Level 36: 南 (radical) - we’re moving down to level 7
Content Changes
- Kanji 南’s primary reading will be switched from on’yomi to kun’yomi along with this addition and movements, and other related content will be updated accordingly.
Reasoning:
- All the 南-related items (radical 南, kanji 南,vocab 南, 南東, 南口, 南米, 南アフリカ, 南国): The radical 南 is moving down to the same level as the kanji 南 so that it can be a prerequisite of that kanji. The kanji and vocab 南 are being moved up one level to create space from 東, since teaching similar lexical sets together can sometimes lead to interference. We are also changing the primary reading of the kanji 南 to kun’yomi, so all other 南-related items, including the newly added 南アフリカ and 南国, are being adjusted to support this updated teaching order.
3. Wed, October 8, 2025 (2 addition and 10 movements) – Published
New Items
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西口 (vocab) - we’re adding this vocab to level 5
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西ヨーロッパ (vocab) - we’re adding this vocab to level 6
Level Changes
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Level 5: 北西 (vocab) - we’re moving up to level 12
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Level 6: 東京 (vocab) - we’re moving up to level 8
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Level 6: 中東 (vocab) - we’re moving up to level 8
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Level 6: 東北 (vocab) - we’re moving up to level 11
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Level 6: 東方 (vocab) - we’re moving up to level 58
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Level 6: 京 (kanji) - we’re moving up to level 8
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Level 8: 東口 (vocab) - we’re moving down to level 6
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Level 8: 北海道 (vocab) - we’re moving up to level 13
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Level 13: 東 (radical) - we’re moving down to level 6
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Level 25: 京 (radical) - we’re moving down to level 8
Content Changes
- Kanji 西 and 東’s primary reading will be switched from on’yomi to kun’yomi along with this addition and movements, and other related content will be updated accordingly.
Reasoning:
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All the 東, 西, 南, and 北-related items (vocab 西口, 西ヨーロッパ , 南アフリカ, 北西, 東京, 中東, 東北, 東口, 東方, 北海道, 西側): We are changing the primary reading of the kanji 西 and 東 to kun’yomi, so we’re adding 西口 and 西ヨーロッパ to consolidate the kun’yomi reading of 西 and moving down 東口 to consolidate the kun’yomi reading of 東. We are also adding 南アフリカ to consolidate the kun’yomi reading of 南. Meanwhile, 東京, 中東, 南東, and 東北 are moving up so learners first see the kun’yomi words before meeting the on’yomi words. 東方 isn’t a very common word, so it’s moving up to level 58 to make room for more useful words with the on’yomi reading of 東 earlier. 北海道 is moving up a few levels to better fit with the new flow of directions-related items.
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Radical 東: We are moving radical 東 to the same level as the kanji 東, so that it can be a prerequisite of that kanji.
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Radical and kanji 京: We are moving radical and kanji 京 to the same level as the vocab 東京, so that it can be a prerequisite of that vocab.
4. Wed, October 15, 2025 (5 additions and 1 movement) – Published
New Items
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東アジア (vocab) - we’re adding this vocab to level 7
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西日 (vocab) - we’re adding this vocab to level 7
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北風 (vocab) - we’re adding this vocab to level 8
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南風 (vocab) - we’re adding this vocab to level 9
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大西洋 (vocab) - we’re adding this vocab to level 12
Level Changes
- Level 30: 北 (radical) - we’re moving down to level 3
Reasoning:
- All the 東, 西, 南, and 北-related items (radical 北, vocab 東アジア, 西日, 北風, 南風, 大西洋): We are also moving radical 北 to the same level as the kanji 北, so that it can be a prerequisite of that kanji. We’re adding 東アジア, 西日, 北風, 南風 to help consolidate the kun’yomi for 東, 西, 南, and 北, and adding 大西洋 to help consolidate the on’yomi for 西.
5. Wed, October 22, 2025 (2 additions and 2 movements) – Published
New Items
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東西南北 (vocab) - we’re adding this vocab to level 19
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北極 (vocab) - we’re adding this vocab to level 28
Level Changes
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Level 16: 関西 (vocab) - we’re moving up to level 17
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Level 17: 西側 (vocab) - we’re moving up to level 18
Reasoning:
- All the 東, 西, 南, and 北-related items (vocab 東西南北, 北極, 関西, 西側): We’re adding 東西南北 to teach rendaku’d on’yomi readings for 西 and 北, as well as to help consolidate the on’yomi for 東 and 南. We are adding 北極 to complete the pair with 南極 (27), which we already have. We are moving up 関西 and 西側 by a few levels to better fit with the new flow of directions-related items being adjusted over the next few weeks.
This issue should now be resolved, and 北国 is returning example sentences as expected. Please let us know if you spot anything else. ありがとうございます 
Is this just me?
