How I Retain 20,000 Japanese Kanji Readings with Just 20 Minutes of Practice a Day

Learning Japanese is a marathon, not a sprint. The sheer volume of vocabulary and kanji readings can feel overwhelming. For years, I struggled with the “leaky bucket” problem: new words would push out the old ones. That is, until I built a system in Anki that transformed my review sessions from a chore into a highly efficient, almost game-like experience.

This system allows me to review hundreds of cards, reinforce my memory, and learn the correct readings for thousands of words in just about 20 minutes a day. Sometimes I even catch myself not being able to stop and continue studying new words for up to 2 hours.

Demo

Here’s a quick look at the system in action. Pay attention to the instant feedback and automatic progression.

Anki Reading Card Demo

Explanation

So, what’s happening on screen? It’s a simple but powerful loop:

The Prompt: At the top of the card, an example sentence provides context. Below it, a Japanese word is shown, and my task is to type its reading in hiragana into the text box.
Instant Feedback (Correct): If I type the correct reading quickly enough, the screen flashes green, a pleasant ‘success’ sound plays, and the card is automatically graded as ‘Good’. Anki then immediately shows the next card. This creates a state of flow.
Instant Feedback (Slow): If my answer is correct but I hesitated, the system grades it as ‘Hard’. The screen flashes orange with a different sound, signaling that I need to see this card again sooner.
Instant Feedback (Incorrect): If I type the wrong reading, the card flashes red with a ‘fail’ sound. The correct reading is displayed along with the word’s definition, allowing me to see my mistake. I then manually grade the card (usually ‘Again’ unless I had a typo), and the system logs it for immediate re-review.
Context is King: The example sentence at the top is crucial. Japanese has many words with multiple readings (homographs) that are only distinguishable by context. For example, 一日 can be read as いちにち (ichinichi, “one day”) or ついたち (tsuitachi, “first day of the month”). Similarly, 避ける can be read as さける (sakeru, to avoid a situation) or よける (yokeru, to physically dodge an object). The sentence removes this ambiguity.
Two Sides of the Same Coin: This setup is for recalling a word’s reading (a “production” card). I have a second card type for recalling the word’s meaning (a “recognition” card). Both cards are generated automatically from the same single “Note” in Anki, ensuring I learn each word from both directions without extra work.

Why This System is So Effective

This isn’t just about flashy colors; it’s based on solid learning principles.

Active Recall on Steroids: The system forces you to actively retrieve the reading from your memory by typing it. This is scientifically proven to create much stronger neural pathways than passive review (like just reading a word and its definition).
Immediate, Multi-Sensory Feedback: The combination of visual (color flash) and auditory (sound effect) feedback creates a powerful reinforcement loop.
- Positive Reinforcement: The green flash and success chime act as a micro-reward, triggering a small dopamine release that makes you want to get the next one right. It makes studying feel satisfying.
- Negative Reinforcement: The jarring red flash and failure sound create a “pattern interrupt.” It grabs your attention, making the memory of the mistake (and its correction) more vivid and less likely to be repeated.
FSRS & Spaced Repetition: Anki’s built-in FSRS (Free Spaced Repetition Scheduler) is the engine behind it all. It’s a sophisticated algorithm that tracks your performance on every single card and predicts the exact moment you’re about to forget it. It then shows you the card right at that time, ensuring maximum retention with minimum effort.
Automated for Flow: The automatic grading and progression for correct answers are key. It eliminates the tiny moment of self-assessment (“Was that ‘Good’ or ‘Hard’?”), which, when repeated hundreds of time, causes decision fatigue. This automation keeps you in a seamless state of flow, making your reviews faster and more focused.

Your Step-by-Step Setup Guide

Ready to build this yourself? It takes about 15 minutes to set up.

1. Install Anki If you haven’t already, download and install the free Anki desktop application. This is where you’ll do the setup.

2. Install the Required Add-ons In Anki, go to Tools > Add-ons > Get Add-ons... and paste in the following codes, one by one.

Audiovisual Feedback: 231569866
Auto Rate Typed Answer Based On Length: 2142833407

After installing, restart Anki.

3. Get a Vocabulary Deck You need a deck that has fields for Word, Reading, Meaning, and Example Sentence.

For Beginners/Intermediate: Search the Anki shared decks for “Core 2k/6k” or “Tango N5/N4”. These are excellent starting points.
For Advanced Learners: You are likely “mining” your own words from books, anime, or games. Just ensure your note type has these fields.

4. Configure the Card Template This is the most important step. We’ll tell Anki how to display the cards.

Open Anki, go to the Browser, and select a card from your chosen deck.
Click the “Cards…” button. This will open the Card Template editor.
You’ll see tabs for “Front Template,” “Styling,” and “Back Template.” Copy and paste the code below into the corresponding sections. Make sure you replace my field names (Expression, Reading, Meaning, Sentence) with the actual field names from your deck.

Front Template (Front.html):

<div class="sentence">{{Sentence}}</div>
<div class="expression">{{Expression}}</div>

{{type:Reading}}

Styling (CSS):

.card {
  font-family: Meiryo, "Hiragino Sans", "Yu Gothic", sans-serif;
  text-align: center;
  font-size: 30px;
  color: black;
  background-color: white;
}

.sentence {
  color: #666;
  font-size: 20px;
  margin-bottom: 25px;
}

.expression {
  font-size: 50px;
  font-weight: bold;
  margin-bottom: 20px;
}

.win .typebox {
  background-color: #aaffaa; /* Light Green */
}

.fail .typebox {
  background-color: #ffaaaa; /* Light Red */
}

.correct {
  color: #00aaff;
}

Back Template (Back.html):

<div class="sentence">{{Sentence}}</div>
<div class="expression">{{Expression}}</div>

<hr>

{{type:Reading}}

<div class="meaning">
  {{Meaning}}
</div>

5. Configure the Add-ons

Audiovisual Feedback: Go to Tools > Add-ons, select “Audiovisual Feedback,” and click “Config.” You can change the colors and sounds if you like, but the defaults are great.
Auto-rate: The configuration is done directly in the Back Template script above. The most important setting is timeLimit. I find 4000ms (4 seconds) to be a good balance between speed and fairness. Adjust it to your liking.

Conclusion

That’s it. This system takes the best parts of spaced repetition, active recall, and immediate feedback and combines them into a hyper-efficient learning machine. It removes friction, builds momentum, and makes the daily task of reviewing vocabulary genuinely enjoyable.

If you’ve been struggling to make Japanese vocabulary stick, give this setup a try. It might just be the breakthrough you’ve been looking for. Happy learning