I have seen that RTK I is available in a new edition as of May 2007
(LP $ 32, bn online price $ 25.60). However, RTK II is out of print
and I only found a used copy at amazon for $156.97.

Does anyone know of a source to buy RTK II at a reasonable price ?

Does anyone know, whether the publishing house "Japan Publications
Trading" intends to print a new edition any time soon ?

Thanks,

A new edition is in the proofreading stages right now, and will be printed by the University of Hawaii Press later this year.

Cover art:


I would suggest waiting for the new edition if you can, it should fix a fair number of errors in the previous printing. Copies of the old edition are still available in a few places, I've seen it at two bookstores local to me (but not volumes I or III).

Ooo. Pretty cover.

Agreed. Wooo, colours....

On-topic (or not), is RTK II necessary? I mean, I hear about kanji chaining and that seems to completely eschew whatever method is used in RTK II (which appears to be rote, albeit systematic rote). I wasn't intending on worrying about readings anytime soon (reading 大好き as bigfondki seems to work just fine...) so I was wondering if I was missing anything.

I haven't used RTK2 and never will. I learned to read just by picking stuff up as I go along, and can now read pretty much anything.

But if anyone wants to buy it, I have a nearly untouched copy of RTK II, volume 3. Bear in mind that I'd be shipping it from Japan.

I'm looking for a copy of RTK II, so a secondhand copy would be great.
My e-mail is kyotochess [at] yahoo [dot] co [dot] uk if you would like to sell that, cheers.
I'm living in Japan, Kyoto as you may guess from my e-mail but ofcourse first offer should go to the origonal poster.

admin:edited your email address because of spam bots. ps: if you set your email in your forum profile, you can be contacted by other members by email via the forum's contact form. They won't see your email but they can email you (see Profile > Privacy, the default is "Hide your e-mail address but allow form e-mail")

Looks like kyotokanji bought the book from someone else, so it's still up for grabs.

1st edition, 8th printing
Like new condition
3500 yen + shipping
Originally cost $37 + NYS sales tax.

I can accept money by PayPal in US$ or by furikomi.

Megaqwerty... As you have noticed, some find RTK 2 useful and some do not. I am using it and find that it works well. Perhaps if I lived in Japan and was surrounded by Japanese print media and lived with native speakers, I might feel differently. However, living in the isolation of central Ohio, I find that RTK 2 is effective for me.

It continues the "divide and conquer" strategy of breaking a large complex problem into smaller ones. Yes, it is a huge change from RTK 1, no stories or mnemonics, so it took me a while to work out a routine, and it is proving to be a slower process. I took about 6 months to go through RTK 1. At my present rate, it may well take a year or two to get through RTK 2. After 5 months, I am up to frame 770, working my way through the semi-pure groups. I use Twinkle on an old Palm T to store and drill compound words. In addition to the words provided in RTK 2, I try to find one more common compound for each Kanji, with the expectation that by the time I finish RTK 2, I should have more than 3000 compounds. So far so good...

So my advice is not to dismiss RTK 2 out of hand. It may or may not be suitable for you depending on your learning style and circumstances.

Cheers,

Has anyone tried to get a copy of RtK v2 from the publisher in Japan shipped to the US? I saw that they want you to either transfer funds to either a bank in Japan or Spain, so I was wondering if anyone's tried this yet. I would wait for the Univ. of Hawai'i edition, but they say it won't be ready until Spring, 2008, and I plan on finishing vol. 1 by mid/late August, and I want to get started ASAP. (Already through 1067, and chugging away at the rest.)

Thanks in advance.

nnielsen Wrote:Does anyone know of a source to buy RTK II at a reasonable price ?

I just bought the RTK II second edition at the Kinokuniya bookstore in New York City (near the Rockefeller Center) last May. The price was $37.00 USD. ISBN-10: 0-87040-748-1. I might add that my purchase may have been made a little prematurely since I am only on frame 395 of RTK1 but I have the Kanji fever in my brain and faith in Father Heisig in my heart. ( Heh-heh!) Note: The first paragraph of the introduction to RTK II says "it presumes that the material coverend in the first book has already been mastered..." Oops, I guess I should have looked at the introduction before I dropped my hard earned $37 in case I don't make it!!

nnielsen Wrote:I have seen that RTK I is available in a new edition as of May 2007
(LP $ 32, bn online price $ 25.60). However, RTK II is out of print
and I only found a used copy at amazon for $156.97.

I don't think this book is out of print. My copy is brand new. If you live in California, I suggest you try Kinokuniya in L.A., San Jose, San Francisco, etc. or try this link: http://www.macalester.edu/eastasianproje...in-usa.htm to find a Japanese bookstore near you.
Good luck!

Ah, thanks. I just ordered a copy from Kinokuniya NY's web page. I didn't know they still had it in stock. I just did a search with the ISBN number, and used RikaiChan to help fill out the form (didn't really need to, but just in case, you know?). I've had Kinokuniya NY ship stuff to me before-- JLPT prep materials and such-- and they're very good about it.

Here's a tinyurl'd link to the book on the Kinokunia East Coast website:

http://tinyurl.com/yu6dmu

I suppose I'll worry about volume 3 when I master volume 2... whenever that is. XD

Oh well. Back to work. I'm right at 1250 now. Gotta keep going with my cards.

Hello all,

Just wanted to mention that the book I was offering to sell has been purchased. Looks like there are some good places to buy it elsewhere, though

I've still seen one new copy at a bookstore near me, priced at $40 -- if anyone else needs a copy before the next edition's published (and if Kinokuniya runs out), I'd be happy to pick it up and ship it anywhere at cost.

Bah. Just heard from Kinokuniya NY. They ran out.

I'll wait until the end of the day to hear back from them, but I may need to ask you to get a copy for me, Kieron.

I checked with Nanzan, and Prof. Heisig says that they're all out of volume 2 there. They are waiting for Univ. of Hawai'i to print the new edition, which he hopes will be out in October. They won't get copies at Nanzan until a few weeks after its release. So whatever's out there is all that's available.

An update on availability of RTK II & III. I checked with the University of Hawaii Press, and they say RTK II will be out in the Spring of 2008. RTK III in 2009. Their reply follows.

John aka "gaijinda"
Soldotna, Alaska

>Dear Mr. Pfeifer,
>
>Thank you for your letter. We do intend to publish new editions of
>Remembering the Kanji Volumes II and III. Volume II should be out in
>the Spring of 2008, and Volume III will be published in 2009. Prices
>for the new volumes have not been set.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Steven Hirashima
>University of Hawaii Press