This is the same core 2k that can be found elsewhere, with a few modifications.
- I removed the pictures because many of them are misleading or wrong.
- I changed the formatting to suit my own preference.
- I also removed the recall cards because there are too many cards (e.g. 朝食・朝ご飯, 起きる・起こる）that have the exact same meaning in English. I changed a few of the definitions to help differentiate between the synonyms, but in the end decided that it was best to only review the recognition cards.
The way I use the deck is:
1) Read the vocab word in my head and ask myself if I know what it means.
2) Read the sentence in my head and ask myself if I know what it means.
3) Flip the card to check if I got the reading and meaning right.
If I can't remember the meaning or reading of a word, I still try to read the sentence because it often will help jog my memory.
If I remember how to read the word/what it means in the context of the sentence, I will still mark the card as "Again" or "Hard".
Hopefully this works for you too. I found that by the time I finished this deck I can read and understand a decent amount of written Japanese. And I am quite good at guessing the reading of unknown kanji words because I have been practicing without furigana this whole time.
Here's my video on how to get Anki set up for the first time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPVpsX9ZPWE
Enjoy!
Update: 9/11/2018 - Changed font so it should work on all platforms.