We have developed a method that makes it easier for language novices to look up Japanese and Chinese logographs. Instead of using the arbitrary conventions of logographs, this method is based on three simple prototypes: horizontal, vertical, and other strokes. For example, the code for the logograph ⊞ ( ta , meaning rice field) is 3-3-0, indicating the logograph consists of three horizontal strokes and three vertical strokes. Such codes allow a novice to look up logographs even with no knowledge of the logographic conventions used by native speakers. To make the search easier, a complex logograph can be looked up via the components making up the logograph. We conducted a user evaluation of this system and found that novices could look up logographs with fewer failures with our system than with conventional methods.