Cramming vocab not working --suggestions?

Hey /lang/, I'm learning Japanese.  I can remember grammar alright, but vocab is kicking my ass.  I review with a flash card program on my computer, but it doesn't seem to help much.  The words slip my mind after a day or two of not reviewing those specific ones.

What exercises do you do to help solidify vocab, regardless of language?  Any general suggestions for memorization of 50+ words a chapter are much appreciated!

Vocab is for suckers. In reality, the Japanese communicate amongst themselves chiefly via a loose system of paralinguistic grunts and hand gestures, tacking on a "desu" here and an "arimasu" there to trick foreigners.