Kanji Study - Learn Japanese!

Name: Kanji Study - Learn Japanese!
Rating: 4.7 (6467 reviews)
Author: Luli Languages LLC

Learn via vocab, JLPT N5–N1

Free · In‑App Purchases · Designed for iPad

6.5K Ratings
Ages

4+
Years
Category

Education
Developer

Luli Languages LLC
Language

EN
+ 11 More
Size

84.2
MB

Most kanji apps show you a character and its readings and expect you to memorize them cold. Kanji Study takes a different approach: you learn kanji through the vocabulary words they appear in. By studying real JLPT words, over 5,000 of them across N5 to N1, you absorb kanji readings naturally, one word at a time, the way they actually appear in Japanese. What makes it different: Vocabulary-first learning: master readings through words, not rote memorization Writing lessons with stroke detection: learn correct stroke order and get instant feedback Spaced repetition reviews: English → Japanese and Japanese → English, including writing quizzes Full JLPT coverage: structured levels from N5 through N1 Audio pronunciation: hear every word read aloud Works offline: no internet connection required Ideal for JLPT test prep, Japanese language students, or anyone preparing to live or work in Japan.

Ratings & Reviews

4.7

out of 5

6.5K Ratings

Best kanji-learning app I’ve tried
07/26/2025

Nighthawk4211
Of the kanji-learning apps I’ve tried this one is the best. It does a good job of teaching me to remember the meaning and reading from the character, the character and meaning from the reading, and the character and meaning from the reading. Compound words are always introduced after the constituent characters. Lessons seem to have about the right number of characters in them for an appropriate challenge level. There are not hints that encourage cheating like Duolingo’s audio cues, so it actually knows what I have and have not learned for useful spaced repetition.Occasionally there are issues when multiple Japanese words and/or their English translations are near-synonyms, requiring arbitrary memorization of which English word or phrase goes with which kanji rather than actual language learning. For example 連れてくる and 連れて来る are the same word but have two different English translations, one of which is the same as the translation of 連れて行く (both versions of 連れて来る should probably be “to bring someone here” and 連れて行く should probably be “to take someone somewhere”). I’ll forgive the developers for having a few of these challenges, as a solution is not obvious!I would also appreciate a mode where the characters are introduced in grade-level order rather than JLPT order, because I’d like to learn Japanese as much like a native speaker as possible.
Best kanji-learning app I’ve tried
07/26/2025

Nighthawk4211

Of the kanji-learning apps I’ve tried this one is the best. It does a good job of teaching me to remember the meaning and reading from the character, the character and meaning from the reading, and the character and meaning from the reading. Compound words are always introduced after the constituent characters. Lessons seem to have about the right number of characters in them for an appropriate challenge level. There are not hints that encourage cheating like Duolingo’s audio cues, so it actually knows what I have and have not learned for useful spaced repetition.Occasionally there are issues when multiple Japanese words and/or their English translations are near-synonyms, requiring arbitrary memorization of which English word or phrase goes with which kanji rather than actual language learning. For example 連れてくる and 連れて来る are the same word but have two different English translations, one of which is the same as the translation of 連れて行く (both versions of 連れて来る should probably be “to bring someone here” and 連れて行く should probably be “to take someone somewhere”). I’ll forgive the developers for having a few of these challenges, as a solution is not obvious!I would also appreciate a mode where the characters are introduced in grade-level order rather than JLPT order, because I’d like to learn Japanese as much like a native speaker as possible.
Love this resource!!!
08/03/2022

selgjo
This app is my new favorite Kanji resource. I’ve tried quite a few others, but I most like the effective leveling and review system. I don’t know how a beginner would approach this, but I am glad that I already had some background knowledge of kanji, which helped me point out radicals and recurring concepts with each character. It gets straight to the point and is incredibly efficient. I also like how the levels are stacked as opposed to other resources. You really feel like each character sets the stage for another more complicated one. I only have two complaints, really. The first is that there aren’t native recordings of the vocabulary, so you’ll get some really wonky AI sounds. I would recommend looking up the pronunciation of these words somewhere else. The second is that the writing system can get a bit glitchy with specific characters. It’s very picky about stroke order and direction (which is great), but there have been many times where I have drawn the character in perfect stroke order, direction, etc., only for it to glitch out and tell me I got it wrong. It’s sort of a big deal because your progression is measured by your ability to write the characters without a guide, and if you mess up, it can make sessions tedious and take longer than necessary. I’m not too mad about it, especially because it just gives me another opportunity to reinforce it in my brain, but it has really slowed me down in a few instances. However, I DO understand why making a perfect writing system in a computerized setting would be difficult, so this app still gets a 5/5 for me!
Love this resource!!!
08/03/2022

selgjo

This app is my new favorite Kanji resource. I’ve tried quite a few others, but I most like the effective leveling and review system. I don’t know how a beginner would approach this, but I am glad that I already had some background knowledge of kanji, which helped me point out radicals and recurring concepts with each character. It gets straight to the point and is incredibly efficient. I also like how the levels are stacked as opposed to other resources. You really feel like each character sets the stage for another more complicated one. I only have two complaints, really. The first is that there aren’t native recordings of the vocabulary, so you’ll get some really wonky AI sounds. I would recommend looking up the pronunciation of these words somewhere else. The second is that the writing system can get a bit glitchy with specific characters. It’s very picky about stroke order and direction (which is great), but there have been many times where I have drawn the character in perfect stroke order, direction, etc., only for it to glitch out and tell me I got it wrong. It’s sort of a big deal because your progression is measured by your ability to write the characters without a guide, and if you mess up, it can make sessions tedious and take longer than necessary. I’m not too mad about it, especially because it just gives me another opportunity to reinforce it in my brain, but it has really slowed me down in a few instances. However, I DO understand why making a perfect writing system in a computerized setting would be difficult, so this app still gets a 5/5 for me!
Amazing, but broke with update 1.4.5
02/11/2021

FunnyAnimatorJimTV
I’ve been using this to learn new kanji and words for about 5 months, I’m in N3 group 3 right now, and i think you absolutely get a ton of practice value for what you pay for. Sure it has some issues like a few strange translations and a few strange stroke order annoyances but I don't think those should detract from the whole package. I think the lengths of lessons are perfect to do a few of them a day, and the review sessions are also timed well. Also I love the minimalist UI - definitely keep it for all future apps. I’m really confident that my kanji knowledge is growing because of the systematic method from this app. Definitely consider buying if you’re serious about Japanese.I wasn't going to write a review before but I thought I might as well now, and mention a problem I’ve been having. I’m on an iPhone 6 and the app worked perfectly, up until about 2 weeks ago with update 1.4.4 or 1.4.5, the app stopped working. I could load it up, but the colored icons were displaying in a strange, snappy way, without the smooth transitions, and when I would go to view the list of lessons, it wouldn’t display anything - only a small checkered box in the top right corner. So the app is unusable for me right now. I had my friend try downloading it on his iPhone 6 and he said the lessons worked for him, which is really strange. I could try to do an iCloud backup and reinstall the app, but I’m still afraid it may not work and I’ll lose my months of progress. So perhaps there is just a small issue you could fix in a future update? I’d really like to get back having fun with this app. Thanks!P.S. maybe you could do a JLPT vocabulary app similar to this

Developer Response
I’m glad you like my app! And I’m sorry for the issues lately. I submitted a fixed version today, 1.4.13, which should be available within the next day or two.Please contact me at support@lulilanguages.com if any issues remain after this update.And I have been considering a vocabulary app but haven’t heard anyone request it yet. I will get to work on that soon.
Amazing, but broke with update 1.4.5
02/11/2021

FunnyAnimatorJimTV

I’ve been using this to learn new kanji and words for about 5 months, I’m in N3 group 3 right now, and i think you absolutely get a ton of practice value for what you pay for. Sure it has some issues like a few strange translations and a few strange stroke order annoyances but I don't think those should detract from the whole package. I think the lengths of lessons are perfect to do a few of them a day, and the review sessions are also timed well. Also I love the minimalist UI - definitely keep it for all future apps. I’m really confident that my kanji knowledge is growing because of the systematic method from this app. Definitely consider buying if you’re serious about Japanese.I wasn't going to write a review before but I thought I might as well now, and mention a problem I’ve been having. I’m on an iPhone 6 and the app worked perfectly, up until about 2 weeks ago with update 1.4.4 or 1.4.5, the app stopped working. I could load it up, but the colored icons were displaying in a strange, snappy way, without the smooth transitions, and when I would go to view the list of lessons, it wouldn’t display anything - only a small checkered box in the top right corner. So the app is unusable for me right now. I had my friend try downloading it on his iPhone 6 and he said the lessons worked for him, which is really strange. I could try to do an iCloud backup and reinstall the app, but I’m still afraid it may not work and I’ll lose my months of progress. So perhaps there is just a small issue you could fix in a future update? I’d really like to get back having fun with this app. Thanks!P.S. maybe you could do a JLPT vocabulary app similar to this
Developer Response 02/12/2021
I’m glad you like my app! And I’m sorry for the issues lately. I submitted a fixed version today, 1.4.13, which should be available within the next day or two.Please contact me at support@lulilanguages.com if any issues remain after this update.And I have been considering a vocabulary app but haven’t heard anyone request it yet. I will get to work on that soon.
This app is great, but tiny errors are annoying (updated)
08/05/2022

shaunjc06
Updated: please read editThe app is top notch, but little, bugs will annoy. It's still worth it, but beware of trusting it too much. An example I came across today is the kanji 界 which it gives the association "kingdom" but other dictionaries (I checked 3) give the association "world", "area", or "boundary" kingdom is only listed as one of the definitions associated with biology As in an animal kingdom. So I'm not sure if that is the right meaning to assign that kanji as it seems like a special case and not the usual meaning. In addition to that, while doing the writing practice for a different kanji in the same lesson(室), one of the strokes was just completely missing. I'm only on jlpt 4, but it makes me wonder how correct these really are, and how many more errors there will be going forward. I'm not planning on taking any tests yet, but someone who is should be wary using this tool to do so, and I have seen other user reviews reflect the same sentiment.EDIT: Thanks to the quick response from the developer I'm updating this review to five stars. Seemed my app was outdated. I'm not sure why because I had automatic updates on, but if anyone is having similar issues try re-downloading. My issues are resolved now. Thanks!

Developer Response
These issues were fixed several years ago. It sounds like something in the update process failed and your app hasn’t been getting updates.Sorry for the trouble but I recommend reinstalling the app. Your progress has been backed up to the server and will download after you install the app again.
This app is great, but tiny errors are annoying (updated)
08/05/2022

shaunjc06

Updated: please read editThe app is top notch, but little, bugs will annoy. It's still worth it, but beware of trusting it too much. An example I came across today is the kanji 界 which it gives the association "kingdom" but other dictionaries (I checked 3) give the association "world", "area", or "boundary" kingdom is only listed as one of the definitions associated with biology As in an animal kingdom. So I'm not sure if that is the right meaning to assign that kanji as it seems like a special case and not the usual meaning. In addition to that, while doing the writing practice for a different kanji in the same lesson(室), one of the strokes was just completely missing. I'm only on jlpt 4, but it makes me wonder how correct these really are, and how many more errors there will be going forward. I'm not planning on taking any tests yet, but someone who is should be wary using this tool to do so, and I have seen other user reviews reflect the same sentiment.EDIT: Thanks to the quick response from the developer I'm updating this review to five stars. Seemed my app was outdated. I'm not sure why because I had automatic updates on, but if anyone is having similar issues try re-downloading. My issues are resolved now. Thanks!
Developer Response 08/04/2022
These issues were fixed several years ago. It sounds like something in the update process failed and your app hasn’t been getting updates.Sorry for the trouble but I recommend reinstalling the app. Your progress has been backed up to the server and will download after you install the app again.