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10ten Japanese Reader (formerly Rikaichamp): a pop-up dictionary extension that shows word meanings when you hover over Japanese text.
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11 November 2026
A Dictionary of Japanese Grammar (Basic / Intermediate / Advanced)
Looking up exactly how a grammar point works
BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced
Three-volume grammar reference published by The Japan Times. Each entry explains one grammar point in depth, with many example sentences, notes on usage and related expressions.
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Open-source spaced repetition flashcard program and the most widely used SRS tool among Japanese learners. Use shared decks or build your own, with audio, images and custom card layouts. On Android it's called AnkiDroid (free); on iPhone, AnkiMobile (one-time purchase). All sync through free AnkiWeb.
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Free Anki add-on that lets other tools, such as Yomitan and asbplayer, create Anki cards for you in one click.
Anki add-on
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Aozora Bunko: a free online library of Japanese books in the public domain, mostly older literature.
Web
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Free, open-source browser player and extension for watching Japanese video with subtitles, including on streaming sites, and mining sentences from them into Anki.
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Grammar study tool that teaches points by JLPT level and reviews them with fill-in-the-blank sentences on a spaced repetition schedule.
WebiOSAndroid
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Japanese pronunciation and pitch accent lessons from the creator Dogen. Some videos are free on YouTube; the full lesson series is on Patreon.
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Gamified language app with a Japanese course built on short daily lessons. Free with ads; the paid plan removes ads and adds extra practice features.
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NHK World's free Easy Japanese course: short audio lessons built around a story, each teaching one key phrase, with text, grammar notes and quizzes.
Web
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Erin's Challenge: free video series from the Japan Foundation following a student in Japan, with lessons on everyday phrases and culture.
Web
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Pronunciation dictionary where native speakers record individual words. Handy for checking how a word or name is actually said.
Web
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GENKI: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese, published by The Japan Times. Two textbooks (Genki I and II) with matching workbooks take beginners through grammar, conversation, reading, writing and kanji. The official site has free extra resources and audio.
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Google's Japanese input method (IME) for typing Japanese on your computer, with accurate kana-to-kanji conversion and suggestions.
WindowsmacOS
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Language exchange app for chatting with native Japanese speakers who are learning your language, by text, voice or call.
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Q&A app where you ask native speakers questions about Japanese, such as whether a sentence sounds natural or how to say something, and get answers in text or audio.
WebiOSAndroid
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Self-paced Japanese course app that reads like a friendly textbook, covering grammar, writing and culture from the very beginning, with quizzes along the way.
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Free and very detailed Japanese grammar reference, running from beginner topics to classical Japanese.
Web
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Free Japanese dictionary for iPhone and iPad that works fully offline, with words, proper names, kanji, example sentences and a built-in grammar guide.
iOS
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Tae Kim's Guide to Learning Japanese: a free grammar guide that explains Japanese on its own terms rather than through English grammar.
Web
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Free JLPT N5 to N1 grammar lessons with audio examples, explanations for every practice answer, listening practice, mock tests and Anki decks. No sign-up needed.
Web
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Large library of audio and video Japanese lessons sorted by level, with transcripts, vocabulary lists and an audio dictionary.
WebiOSAndroid
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Free online Japanese-English dictionary. Search in English, kana, romaji or kanji, draw kanji by hand or by radical, and see example sentences and a JLPT tag on many words (taken from older unofficial lists, since the JLPT has not published official word lists since 2010).
Web
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Free Japanese-English dictionary file for Yomitan, built from JMdict with cleaner layouts and extra notes. One of the most common first dictionaries to install in Yomitan.
Yomitan
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Open-source Japanese dictionary website with word, kanji, name and sentence search, plus pitch accent information for many words.
Web
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Vocabulary tool built on frequency data from parsing real anime, novels, games and visual novels. Pick a show or book and learn its words in order of how often they appear, with built-in spaced repetition.
Web
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Free Anki deck of the 1,500 most useful beginner words. Each card shows the word inside an example sentence with it highlighted, plus the reading, meaning, and audio for both word and sentence; pitch accent can be switched on. Download it from AnkiWeb or GitHub.
Anki
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Japanese-language site showing animated stroke order for kana and kanji.
Web
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Free web app for learning to read and write kanji, with stroke-order animations, readings, example words and audio.
Web
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Free kanji site that teaches kanji with irreverent mnemonics, ordered so that components come before the kanji that use them.
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