This study investigates how students of the Japanese language regulate the learning of "kanji" (Japanese written characters). Skill in reading "kanji" has an important effect on learners' progress in interpretive reading. Data collected over one year were drawn from interviews with 12 students. The study highlighted an inability for many students to control emotions, manage commitments, and control boredom and procrastination when studying "kanji". Moreover, advanced learners were more prone to a loss of self-regulation due to frustration caused by a lack of progress in learning, or due to self-criticism over an inability to reach goals. This study raises an understanding of struggles faced by language learners and offers pedagogical implications for instructors to lessen the burden of "kanji" learning on students. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)