How much Kanji should I learn before studying in Japan?

Question

How much Kanji should I learn before studying in Japan?

Answer 1

Studying what? Studying the language? Studying in high school? Studying to get a PHD in nuclear physics?

The answer to this question can be between 0 and several thousand.

Answer 2

99 % of Japanese can read and write. You need to know at least 2,000+ to read a newspaper. The more the better.

  I hope you have a lot of money. School in Japan isn't cheap.

Answer 3

But don't be intimidated. The fact is a significant percentage of Japanese is illiterate as far as kanji... I'm one of them. It was yesterday that I learned 号泣 is read "gokyu." Before I read it as "gorai," even though I knew what it means. A former mayor of Osaka was said to read 自ら　as "jira" instead of "mizukara." That's the awful truth. Reading kanji words aloud correctly is indeed the bane of learning Japanese but considering the fact, there's nothing to get scared about. What's more, you can rely on the hieroglyphic nature of kanji. You don't even have to take the effort to learn how to read them aloud correctly, because the greater part of kanji words rarely find use in everyday conversation. Most people would never use 号泣　in conversation, so even if I don't know how to read it correctly, there's no problem at all.

Answer 4

Japanese kids learn 2,000 kanjis between age 6 and 15. If you want to go to school at high school level or above in Japan, you must learn the same amount.