James W. Heisig

James W. Heisig was an American scholar known for developing methods to learn Chinese characters. His most well-known work, *Remembering the Kanji*, provides a systematic approach to memorizing thousands of Japanese kanji by creating memorable stories or associations for each character’s components. This approach helps learners recognize and recall characters more efficiently, emphasizing understanding of their structure and meaning rather than rote memorization. Heisig’s method has been influential for students of Japanese and Chinese, offering a practical way to build a solid foundation in reading and writing complex logographic scripts.