Students have been reading and writing Japanese for centuries, and they build their knowledge most successfully when they rely on a trusted resource. Today's most trusted—and readily available—resource is <I>A Guide to Reading and Writing Japanese</I>. This classic, best-selling learning and reference work, trusted by beginning and intermediate students learning Japanese since 1959, is now being offered as a fourth edition and is thoroughly revised and up-to-date. Having a knowledge of the full set of General Use characters, which this guide includes, will allow reading of any Japanese newspaper with ease and confidence.<BR><BR>Key features on this revised edition include:<BR><UL><LI> the most recent changes prescribed by the Japanese Ministry of Education</LI><LI> Covering all the 2,136 characters in the 'General Use', / Joyo Kanji set</LI><LI> Detailing coverage of the 1,009 'Essential' Japanese characters arranged by grade for children in the first six years of grade school</LI><LI> The Kanji characters based more on their frequency in everyday language than the complexity of their composition. </UL>