KanjiWorks Versions 1.2/1.5.2 (Asia West)

System Requirements: 68030 processor or better, System 7.1 or later, 2.5 MB free RAM; JLK not required but allows some additional features and slightly greater speed (3.5 MB free RAM is better for non-JLK installation).
Full installation of KanjiWorks Extended Version 1.5 requires 17MB of hard disk space on non-JLK systems, 12 Mb on JLK systems. Full installation of KanjiWorks Advanced Version 1.2 requires 7Mb of hard-disk space on non-JLK systems, 4 MB on JLK systems.
Price: (educators' and quantity discounts and site licenses available)
6,355-Kanji Extended Version 1.5: $195
(Also contains 58,000 dictionary entries and 3,000 sample sentences)
2,229-Kanji Advanced Version 1.2: $149
(Also contains 8,000 compounds and 3,000 sample sentences)
1,006-Kanji Intermediate Version 1.2: $85
(Also contains 4,000 dictionary entries and 1,500 sample sentences)
Review by Cliff Darnall, Elk Grove High School (IL)

KanjiWorks is a powerful kanji reference and study tool involving multiple look-up possibilities. Versions are available with over 1,000 kanji, 2,200 kanji, and 6,300 kanji.

KanjiWorks provides for each kanji all normal meanings and readings (in roomaji or in kana, if the JLK is available), as well as special readings used in names and indicates grade level. It can also display JIS, SJIS, Kuten codes, references numbers to major dictionaries (Nelson's, Halpern's, and Spahn & Hadamitzky) and Chinese readings. Radicals and elements are shown, with animated stroke order diagrams available for each of the elements. All versions contain a very large number of illustrative compounds and sample sentences, which can be viewed through secondary windows that the user can open or close. Learners can immediately reference any unknown kanji in the compounds and sentences by simply clicking on them.There is a notepad available for each kanji for users to input their own mnemonics, additional compounds, or remarks. Users can "mark" kanji for additional review and easily create their own individualized study lists. Thus learners can browse grade-level or other lists and create personalized subsets for study. Teachers can prepare lists for their students to study for an upcoming quiz. There are various quiz functions built into KanjiWorks as well.

As a reference tool, users can look up a kanji by clicking on the radical and/or elements and/or stroke count from a chart. Kanji can also be referenced by entering the pronunciation in roomaji or kana (on JLK-systems), English meaning, or a word contained the notes section. Finally, on JLK systems, the kanji itself can be entered directly, pasted from another document, or read from a text file through a KanjiReader feature. The learner can open a text file or paste a text file (such as one scanned in from a newspaper or downloaded from the internet) into the KanjiReader, then highlight the kanji and immediately see displayed the meaning, pronunciations, reference numbers of the kanji and the meaning and pronunciation of the particular compound that is being used in the text. The program also contains a kanji converter for conversion between JIS and SJIS codes, which can in certain instances be of help when trying to communicate in Japanese text over the internet.

In the future, I would like to see a CD-ROM version with pronunciations of compounds and example phrases. A teacher utility version that allows teachers to monitor student quizzes might also be helpful, provided quizzes are randomized each time. Teachers and students would also benefit from being able to mark compounds as well as individual kanji. Nevertheless, KanjiWorks is indeed a powerful tool for the serious student of Japanese.

Most appropriate venues for use: WhGrp, SmGrp, CmpLb, RscRm, SlfSt