FAQ – 9 to 5 Japanese

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As you start following the 9to5 Japanese system, you’ll run into common questions and little pain points. This FAQ collects the most frequent ones, along with my tips and tricks to make the routine smoother.

Do I have to mine exactly 100 cards every Saturday?

No. Don’t chase numbers. In the beginning you’ll easily hit 100 or more because everything is unknown. Later it will naturally taper as your vocabulary grows. That’s the whole point — it shows you’re improving.

What if I miss a day of reviews?

Clear your Anki backlog the next morning.
Don’t let it pile up for multiple days.
If life happens, reviews > new cards — always.

What if I miss Saturday mining?

Do it Sunday instead, but finish before Sunday night so Monday’s cards are ready. If you only mine 70–80 cards one week, that’s fine. The key is consistency, not perfection.

Can I watch raw anime during JP1K or Kana Bootcamp?

Yes — but don’t stress about it. During those phases, the focus is kana and then vocab. If you want to watch raw (or with subs) casually, go ahead. Just don’t treat it as study yet.

What if raw immersion feels like noise?

That’s normal at first. The trick is:

Keep watching daily.
Notice when words from Anki pop out.
Let comprehension grow gradually. It’s not supposed to be “comfortable” in the beginning — you’re training your ear.

What about grammar?

Learn basic grammar once (Tae Kim, Cure Dolly, etc.). After that, grammar is acquired naturally through input. Vocabulary is the bottleneck, not grammar.

How do I handle leeches (words that never stick)?

Mortician auto-deletes them (3 lapses for reviewed, 5 for new, no notifications). Don’t stress. If the word is important, it’ll come back later in a new context.

Should I use mnemonics?

For kana, mnemonics can help. For vocab, context (sentences, audio, images) is enough. Don’t waste time building elaborate stories.

Extra Tips & Tricks

Protect Saturday night. Treat it like an appointment — it fuels your whole week.
Use hotkeys. (l to pause, h to repeat line, m to append media) makes mining smoother.
One show per season. Consistency makes reinforcement stronger.
Listen once a day. Don’t loop episode audio endlessly; once or twice is plenty.
Don’t chase “Easy”/“Hard.” Keep it binary.
Remember the loop: Saturday → M–F reviews + immersion → Sunday rewatch → repeat.

The system works because it’s simple. Don’t overcomplicate it. Stick to the loop, trust the process, and let the numbers add up.