I have no doubt that many of us will be able to put these to good use — gadgets for iGoogle! These include proficiency tests, kanji study, and an RSS feed from the Japanese 101 podcast. Happy iGoogling…

Hiragana is the first character set typically taught in Japanese, and while it’s one thing to be able to read these characters, it’s quite another to write them. 

Which is why I found the Hiragana Writing Tutor quite handy. Bonus: The writing tutor also has sites devoted to katakana and kanji.