Japanese resources

I will be listing useful resources for learning Japanese on this page.  I will start with a few books for now, but I will continue to build this page as my time allows and as I come across new useful resources. The list is not comprehensive and does not include all the useful resources that are available out there, but only those which I've personally found to be useful.

Books

1. Let's Learn Hiragana by Yasuko Kosaka Mitamura (Kodansha International)
   This is a basic book which teaches the hiragana syllabary, including stroke order for writing, and other useful notes about the syllabary.  It includes worksheets for writing practice, and word exercises.
2. Let's Learn Katakana by Yasuko Kosaka Mitamura (Kodansha International)
   This is the katakana counterpart of the previous book in this list.
3. Remembering the Kanji, volume 1 and volume 3, by James W. Heisig (University of Hawaii Press)
   These books use Heisig's method for remembering around 3000 kanji and how to write them.  The first volume contains around 2000 kanji, which include the common-use kanji, and the third volume around 1000 kanji.  A student can start and finish volume 1 by itself, and then progress to volume 3 later on if desired.  See my Welcome post also where I refer to this book.
4. Japanese the Manga Way by Wayne P. Lammers (Stone Bridge Press)
   This is a nice and fun book for learning the basic Japanese grammar points.  It is choc-full of excerpt strips from original Japanese manga which are used to illustrate the different grammar points.  This author also worked previously on the popular but now discontinued magazine Mangajin, and that Mangajin style shows through in this fun and effective book.
5. A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar by Seiichi Makino and Michio Tsutsui (The Japan Times)
   This is an excellent reference and supplement for learning basic Japanese grammar.  It is the first in a series which also includes Intermediate and Advanced volumes.  It is not a textbook but a reference.