I agree and the only solution is to memorize a lot of kanji sadly. There are anki flashcard (spaced repetition) decks that can help drill the kanji into your h

I agree and the only solution is to memorize a lot of kanji sadly. There are anki flashcard (spaced repetition) decks that can help drill the kanji into your head. Finding accessible reading material is challenging especially at the absolute beginner stage. In my japanese study I make sure I flashcard kanji every day. Without 300+ memorized reading even kids stuff will be hard. EDIT: Just saw that you are 4 years into studying. That is a bit demoralizing for me that you still can't read adult level stuff. I can only read stuff along the level of "Ayako rides the train", etc.