You know how when you read books and the paper, it's got Kanji in it? I've seen most thing with Kanji that have Hiragana and Katakana on top of it, I guess to be able to read it better if you don't know much Kanji. What's the point of having the kanji if the Hiragana and Katakana over the Kanji?

Konnichiwa! The little Hiragana/Katakana next to or on top of a Kanji character is called FURIGANA - and is there to help children or young readers to be able to pronounce the Kanji. It is also used when a Kanji character takes a reading that is not commonly used. FURIGANA are there to help you - but you will see that in bookstores in Japan, most books do NOT have the Furigana. -Sayaka :P

The only Japanese book I have in my possession has pretty much all Kanji with furigana on top or the side. Although sometimes I got so used to just reading the furigana that even on Kanji I knew I read the furigana on accident. It's good reading practice though! The book I'm reading is titled __日本人の知らない日本語__ and is actually a manga but still is good reading practice. I may not entirely understand what's going on... actually I hardly ever do... but the exposure to new kanji will be good for me.