Some more about kanji:

Someone already mentioned the kanji one has to long during one's first 6 years in school; but here's a listing of the "jouyou kanji" (daily-use kanji) designated by the government.

http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/jouyoukanji.html

These are taught during the course of 9 years in Japanese schools
(a total of 1945 characters)

If you're serious about your study of kanji, you should have a look at this book:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...lance&n=507846

it's an approach to learning the kanji different from the traditional one. i'm using it myself. the book seems to be not so very well-known, which is why i thought i'd make people aware of it.
(if you want to know more about the book, read the introduction and costumer reviews at amazon)