Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win a Best Director Oscar in 2010. Chloé Zhao followed as the first woman of color to win the award in 2021. Notable Contemporary Figures
This period saw a rise in female producers and directors. Dede Allen became a pioneering film editor, and Barbra Streisand made her directorial debut. Characters like Ellen Ripley in Alien challenged the "damsel in distress" trope.
Women like Alice Guy-Blaché , the first female director, and Mary Pickford , "America's Sweetheart," were foundational to the industry. Lois Weber became the highest-paid director of the era, tackling complex social issues.
Iconic actresses such as Bette Davis , Katharine Hepburn , and Audrey Hepburn redefined femininity and carried narratives with multifaceted characters.
Today's entertainment landscape is shaped by mature women who excel both in front of and behind the camera: Hollywood Women: Famous Firsts That Changed Everything
Mature women have been a powerful, though often underrepresented, force in entertainment and cinema since its inception. This guide explores their evolution from silent film pioneers to modern-day powerhouses, highlighting key figures and the ongoing shifts in industry representation.
The Kanshudo kanji usefulness rating shows you how useful a kanji is for you to learn.
has a Kanshudo usefulness of , which means it is among the most useful kanji in Japanese.
is one of the 138 kana characters, denoted with a usefulness rating of K. The kana are the most useful characters in Japanese, and we recommend you thoroughly learn all kana before progressing to kanji.
All kanji in our system are rated from 1-8, where 1 is the most useful.
The 2136 Jōyō kanji have usefulness levels from 1 to 5, and are denoted with badges like this:
The 138 kana are rated with usefulness K, and have a badge like this:
The Kanshudo usefulness level shows you how useful a Japanese word is for you to learn.
has a Kanshudo usefulness level of , which means it is among the
most useful words in Japanese.
All words in our system
are rated from 1-12, where 1 is the most useful.
Words with a usefulness level of 9 or better are amongst the most useful 50,000 words in Japanese, and
have a colored badge in search results, eg:
Many useful words have multiple forms, and less common
forms have a badge that looks like this:
The JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test, 日本語能力試験) is the standard test of Japanese language ability for non-Japanese.
would first come up in level
N.
Kanshudo displays a badge indicating which level of the JLPT words, kanji and grammar points might first be used in:
indicates N5 (the first and easiest level)
indicates N1 (the highest and most difficult)
You can use Kanshudo to study for the JLPT. Kanshudo usefulness levels for kanji, words and grammar points map directly to JLPT levels, so your mastery level on Kanshudo is a direct indicator of your readiness for the JLPT exams.
Kanshudo usefulness counts up from 1, whereas the JLPT counts down from 5 - so the first JLPT level, N5, is equivalent to Kanshudo usefulness level .
The JLPT vocabulary lists were compiled by Wikipedia and Tanos from past papers. Sometimes the form listed by the sources is not the most useful form. In case of doubt, we advise you to learn the Kanshudo recommended form. Words that appear in the JLPT lists in a different form are indicated with a lighter colored 'shadow' badge, like this: .
