Sou Matome JLPT N3 Kanji (Revised & Expanded Edition)

Nihongo So-matome N3 Kanji covers 336 kanji and around 850 vocabulary words for the JLPT N3. It's structured as a six-week programme at two pages a day. Kanji are grouped by theme, with the most common words for each kanji introduced alongside it. Each week ends with a review exercise in JLPT format, and there's a mock test at the end. Answers are in a separate 9-page booklet included with the book. There is no audio.

This is the revised and expanded edition (August 2022), with colour, mock test, weekly review exercises, and an expanded answer booklet. Translations are in English, Chinese, and Korean.

This is one of the stronger books in the N3 So-matome set. The thematic grouping and illustrations make it approachable, and each kanji comes with the words it commonly appears in, so you're learning readings in context rather than memorising characters on their own. The format is mostly self-explanatory, so it works well for solo study without needing to look things up elsewhere. Pairs well with the vocabulary book in the series.