Every learner of Japanese is told that visual mnemonics are the best way to learn the Kanji, or Chinese characters used in modern written Japanese. When it comes to the Kanji for animals and other living beings, what better means of remembering them than with an image of the being itself? Kanji Karakters was born from the desire to make the learning of Kanji fun and easy in a creative way.

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Japan is famous for manga culture; a sub-group of Japanese society that is no small player when it comes to attracting new learners to the language. In Kanji Karakters, I borrow from this aesthetic, infusing the animals with bug eyes, overgrown ears and large teeth. I seek to marry kawaii, or cute, with benrina, or useful, all through an exploration of the plasticity and versatility of language.