The Japanese phonetic alphabets, hiragana for native words and katakana for "borrowed" words, can seem impenetrable to gaijin (foreigners). However, this brilliantly-conceived little gem will have you sounding out Japanese writing in no time. Each character is accompanied with a small cartoon that both resembles the character and represents its sound mmemonically in English. It's pocket-sized and has mini charts of both alphabets as well as a chart of easily-confused lookalike characters. You'll find this book incredibly useful whether you want to travel to the land of the rising sun or just amaze your friends - and yourself too - by reading the menu at your local sushi bar.