One cognitive strategy that has been highlighted in learning, teaching and researching of the Japanese language is the use of mnemonic strategies to memorize the written language. From a cognitive perspective, a mnemonic strategy is defined as ‘a method for enhancing memory performance by giving the material to be remembered a meaningful interpretation’ (Anderson, 2005: 461). A further definition is making associations between new and already known information through use of stories, phrases, verse or the like (Oxford, 2001). In terms of using these kinds of associations when memorizing the Japanese writing system, I would define mnemonic strategies as the use of stories or phrases to link written characters or letters to the meanings or sounds they represent. The use of mnemonics to study kanji, in particular, has been at the center of Japanese language-teaching practices, in that it is widely viewed as a useful strategy to get learners to memorize kanji. Mnemonics are often used in conjunction with pictorial association and component analysis strategies as a means to make meaningful links with the components found in kanji.

Mnemonic strategies have also been showcased in a number of commercial textbooks aimed at the Japanese language learner. Many of these textbooks claim mnemonic strategies to be the solution to the second language learner’s struggle to master the large number of kanji needed to be learned in Japanese SLA. Some of these textbooks include:

• • Heisig, J.W. (2007) Remembering the Kanji (Vol. 1): A Systematic Guide to Reading Japanese Characters. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.

• • Heisig, J.W. (2008) Remembering the Kanji (Vol. 2): A Systematic Guide to Reading Japanese Characters. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.

• • Henshall, K.G. (1988) A Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters. North Clarendon: Tuttle.

• • Rowley, M. (1992) Kanji Pict-O-Graphix: Over 1,000 Japanese Kanji and Kana Mnemonics. Berkeley: Stone Bridge Press.

• • Stout, M. and Hakone, K. (2011) Basic Japanese Kanji (Vol. 1): High-Frequency Kanji at your Command. North Clarendon: Tuttle.