Learn Japanese · 日本語 🇯🇵

Learn Japanese by reading, one tap at a time

Graded Japanese stories with tap-to-translate and romaji — start reading real sentences long before you finish learning kanji.

Graded N5 → N3Romaji built inFirst book free
朝のパン屋 0 words met

This is the real Japanese reader — tap a word, hover a sentence, press play.

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Japanese flagship book cover

The Japanese library

朝のパン屋

The Japanese library is live on the same graded-ladder method as our Georgian catalog. The first book is free — no card, no account needed to start reading.

Graded N5 → N3Romaji built inFirst book free

Free Japanese resources

Start right now — no download needed.

Read chapter 1 of Momotaro, the Peach Boy online

How it works

Reading is the method.

No drills, no streak guilt, no cartoon owl. You read real stories, and the app quietly removes everything that used to make that hard.

01

Tap any word

An instant gloss with romanization for every script — no dictionary detour, no losing your place in the story.

ここは日本です。は · wa — (topic)
02

Tap a sentence

See the full translation only when you want it. Understanding stays a choice, not a crutch.

ここは日本です。“This is Japan.”
03

Watch your words add up

Every word you meet is counted. Once you've read it three times without tapping, it's yours — an honest “words known” number that grows chapter by chapter.

ここは日本です。✓ は — known after 3 encounters

Questions

Fair questions, straight answers.

Do I need kanji before starting?

No — every word shows its reading and romaji on tap, so you can read real sentences from day one and pick up kanji in context.

Is Japanese available now?

Yes — the Japanese graded ladder is live in the app, and the first book is free.

Is it free?

The first book in every language is completely free — no account, no card. A Pro subscription later unlocks the rest of each library.

How is this different from flashcards?

Flashcards teach words in isolation; stories teach them in context, with grammar and collocations attached. ReadNative tracks your vocabulary automatically while you read, so you get the measurable progress of an SRS without the grind. And if you love Anki, every book exports a ready-made deck.

Also on ReadNative

One subscription, every language.

Every language gets the same treatment: a graded ladder of real books, tap-to-translate, audio narration and vocabulary tracking.

Read your first Japanese book tonight.

The first Japanese book is free — no account, no card. Download the app and tap your first word in the next ten minutes.