Japanese Language

This site contains a whole host of facts on Japanese language and customs. The language lessons are very short and targeted at the absolute beginner. Grammar is taught using romaji but there are also lessons dedicated to the kana and some simple kanji. All kanji are held in image files so any browser can be used. The site also contains a lot of links to other sites.
[Site reviewed: 2000-06-11]

This site contains a large collection of general notes on the Japanese language including purely grammatical points such as obscure endings, irregular verbs and transitive/intransitive pairs. Other topics include the origin or various words such as "yakuza" and "Godzilla". There are discussions of words from various foreign languages.
There are a few sections that rely on kanji/kana but most can be read on a normal ASCII browser. There is a single file version of the main file set.
The original version of this site seems to have vanished - this copy is on Jim Breen's site.
[Site reviewed: 1999-06-12, Review pdated: 2000-06-10]

Most of this site is dedicated to a detailed treatment of hiragana. There is also a short article about the origin of the written language.
This site requires a kanji capable browser.
[Site reviewed: 1999-08-14, Link updated 2006-02-25]

Although this site is organised as a set of lessons it is really a collection of vocabulary and grammar tables. It covers the kana and a number of verb tenses together with some adjectives and their forms. It also has some pronouns and time related vocabulary.
The site uses Shift-JIS so a kanji capable browser is required.
[Site reviewed: 2000-07-30, Link updated 2006-02-25]

This site contains a large variety of material aimed primarily at the beginner but with some items of interest to the more advanced student. Topics covered include some basic grammar from particles to passive verbs. A lot on vocabulary - both words and phrases, including "word for the week". There is a basic introduction to hiragana and some kanji including the whole of the level 2 proficiency test kanji with examples.
Among the more specialised items are a list of the personal pronouns and when and by whom they are used; list of national holidays with their kanji forms; examples of politeness levels and much more.
Most of the examples are done in both romaji and kanji - the kanji uses Shift-JIS so a kanji browser is required. There are a few sound files using MP3. They also provide zip files so you can download the whole site.
[Site reviewed: 2000-07-15]

This is a commercial site but the forum seems to be open to all. There is a wide range of material already on it so it is worth having a look even if you do not submit to it.
The forum uses both romaji and kanji.
[Site reviewed: 2000-06-25]

This site contains four short lessons available on line with the promise of access to more upon free registration. The lesson are based on short dialogs with a vocabulary and a grammar section. There is a forum that can be read without registration. The lessons us romaji but the forum uses Shift-JIS.
[Site reviewed: 1998-11-01, Link and review updated 2006-02-25]

This site contains a growing list of lesson and both the beginner and intermediate level. The lessons are based on "podcasts", which are just mp3 files that can be played on any computer with a sound card. The lessons are accompanied by a set of notes that contain the text of the lesson in romaji, hiragana, kanji and English translation, together with vocabulary and grammar note. The notes are produced Acrobat PDF files so your browser does not need kanji support. For each lesson there is also a mini discussion board ( you need to supply your e-mail address ).
[Site reviewed 2006-020-26]

This site introduces the Japanese writing system using animated GIF files. It does not require a kanji enabled browser. There is still only a limited set of kanji covered but they a groups into useful sets.
[Site reviewed: 1999-06-12]

This site covers the kana and some of the simple kanji. The kana lessons work best on a Japanese aware browser but there are links to the Shodouka engine for generating pages ( you will need to cut the URL from the box at the top of your browser and paste it into the edit box before submitting ).
The kanji sections have all the characters as images. For each kanji there is a list of readings, stroke order table, sample compounds and some hints on remembering the meanings. Only the first 147 kanji are covered.
[Site reviewed: 1998-12-20]

This site, as its name implies, is dedicated to the kanji. It is targeted at the Japanese Proficiency Test. There are lists for the lower three levels of the test. The site covers the individual kanji and gives simple examples of compounds using the kanji. In general it is possible to click on any kanji in a compound and get the the main page for that character. The site also has a simple quiz system that uses JavaScript.
The kanji are stored in JPEG files.
[Site reviewed: 2000-10-07]

Follow the "Cyber Tutorials" link. This site does not contain a set of lesson like most but instead contains a number of useful background essays concerning sentence structures, particles and learning methods. There is also a detailed reference section on the particles. Everything is done in romaji.
[Site reviewed: 1999-02-20, Link updated: 2006-02-25]

This site consists of a series of detailed essays covering a number of basic topics concerning the Japanese language. All the basic concepts are covered such as verbs, adjectives and particles; there are also sections on topics like sentence structure. The site is a bit heavy for the beginner but it is worth dipping into when you feel a bit more confident.
All the essays have numerous examples in Romaji - no special browser is required.
[Site reviewed: 2001-07-22, Link updated 2006-02-25]

This site contains a set of lessons primarily concerned with the kana. There are also a couple of lessons covering simple sentences.
This site requires a kanji capable browser.
[Site reviewed: 1999-08-14, Link updated: 2001-12-15, Dead? 2006-02-25]

This site has undergone a major redesign lately and not all the original content is in place in the new order. See archive for the old stuff.

This site is primarily aimed at people wanting to understand anime thus the emphasis is on spoken Japanese. The archive contains a large set of lessons ( 32 at the last count ). The lessons cover everything from general advise on learning, through pronunciation, sentence structure, verb forms, recommended word lists, detailed discussions of special endings and words. Each lesson is a few pages long and contains detailed discussion and examples sentences. All work is done in romaji. There is even a Forum.
Shame about the colour scheme.
[Site reviewed: 2000-06-25, Review updated 2001-12-15, Dead? 2006-02-25]

This site contains a number of vocabulary pages and a set of eight lessons. The lessons are quite short and self contained with a grammar section, several example and a vocabulary section. The site also contains some sample conversations to use as practice for what you have learned.
The lessons are all done in Romaji although there is a summary of hiragana ( using a GIF file ). There are a few .WAV sound files in the pronunciation section.

[This site has improved over the years and this review needs to be updated]

[Site reviewed: 2001-01-06, Link updated 2006-02-25]

This site gives a basic introduction to reading kana and kanji. It is intended for people who have learnt some Japanese using romaji. There are no grammar notes but there are a number of practice sentences in each lesson. At the time of review there were 17 lessons covering such topics as numbers, dates and countries. Most of the kana are used and about 30 kanji.
The kanji are displayed using GIF files so an ordinary browser can be used.
[Site reviewed: 2000-10-07, Dead:? 2006-02-26]

As its name implies this site is targeted at people wishing to watch anime in the original Japanese. The site has a set of 40 short lessons intended to be studied one per day. The lessons start simply and are based on words and phrases with the grammar being introduced to explain the phrase under consideration. The phrases are taken from real anime with accompanying sound file ( .WAV format - the sound files can also be downloaded in groups in zip files ).
The site then goes on to introduce katakana and hiragana. The kana are displayed using image files so an ordinary browser can be used.
[Site reviewed: 2000-07-15, Link updated 2006-02-26]

This is a well constructed and detailed introduction to the Japanese language although currently it is limited to katakana and hiragana. It contains a fair amount of basic grammar. The kana are displayed as GIF files so you do not need a kanji browser. The sites also contains sound files (WAV format).
There are also some Java based games for practice. Also some useful links. The site also contains a set of ZIP files allowing you to download the whole contents of the course.
[Site reviewed: 1998-12-13, Updated Link: 2001-12-15]

This site can be browsed either with a kanji browser or ASCII version using GIF files for the kana.
The course consists of a set of 20 lessons, each of which contain a vocabulary and example section in hiragana; an explanation section in romaji with rather limited discussion of the material; and a test section with a number of single sentence translation exercises where you click on the hot link to get the answer.
The main sections have sound files for each sentence - all the sound files for a lesson can be downloaded in one go. The content tends to be more like a phrase book than a systematic introduction to the grammar.
[Site reviewed: 1999-01-02]

This course consists of a set of 14 short lessons designed to be studied one per day. There are some kana and kanji that require a kanji capable browser. The site also contains some proverbs, sound files and other miscellaneous information.
[Site reviewed: 1999-03-14]