rakugaki : write kanji
write & learn 1,900+ kanji
Free · In‑App Purchases · Designed for iPad. Not verified for macOS.
you don't remember a kanji by looking at it. you remember it by writing it.
rakugaki teaches you to write japanese by hand, stroke by stroke, in the correct order — with your finger or an Apple Pencil. every stroke is checked: direction, position, order. get it wrong, start over. get it right, remember it.
a schoolgirl's notebook, not just another app
grid paper, a genkō sheet to write on, kanji circled in red pen when you get them right, よくできました stamps, washi tape and stickers: rakugaki looks like the notebook kids carry to school in Japan, crossed with an old Windows 95. several color themes, including black notebooks written in gel pens — and the original clean look is still one setting away.
from the kana all the way to N1
• all 142 hiragana and katakana (dakuten included), free, with a write-from-memory quiz and a mastery level per character
• over 1,900 kanji covering every JLPT level — N5 is free
• all 182 radicals 部首: a short lesson when one shows up, and an encyclopedia to fill in
• japanese counters (一つ、二人、三本…) explained and drilled, with their pronunciation traps
• every kanji: animated stroke order, color-coded radicals, readings, vocabulary, a translated example sentence — and your own notes
mnemonics that stick
every kanji comes with a story built from its radicals, with a punchline that sticks. 猫, the cat that "hunts in the field's grass — then sleeps sixteen hours." read it once and it's hard to forget. and when two kanji look alike (未/末, 人/入), the app warns you and drills you on telling them apart.
a memory that works for you (SRS)
spaced repetition brings each kanji back right before you'd forget it. ten mastery levels, from apprentice to the engraved 永 rank. reviews are free-form writing, from memory — no soft multiple-choice. readings get their own track, anchored in real words. the kanji that resist you become your enemies 敵, with a drill just for them. set your JLPT goal: the app knows the real exam dates and computes your pace.
playful, not childish
• an RPG-style oni fight: write your due kanji to strike it down
• a calligraphy grade (S to D) on every successful character
• six games: speed, dictation, look-alikes, copying, flashcards and guided tracing
• daily, weekly and monthly challenges — streaks, omamori charms
• custom sessions: your level, your misses, your session size
• 100 player levels, 10 ranks, and your year in review
• retro 8-bit sound effects — shameless, but mutable
a real dictionary
all over 1,900 kanji, free to browse. search by meaning, by reading — or draw the kanji you're looking at and the app recognizes it.
also in the box
• full JLPT vocabulary (jmdict) that unlocks as your kanji level up
• lock screen and home screen widget: your reviews are waiting
• made for iPad and Apple Pencil too
• iCloud sync between iPhone and iPad
• share your sessions as pixel-art cards
• fully bilingual: english / french
rakugaki plus
the kana, the counters and N5 are free forever. levels N4 through N1 (1,900 kanji) are part of rakugaki plus: monthly or yearly subscription with a 7-day free trial — and your progress is always saved.
rakugaki is built by one person. no studio, no investors — your subscription directly funds what comes next. thank you for the support.
頑張って — good luck on the kanji road.
terms of use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Ratings & Reviews
- This app hasn’t received enough ratings or reviews to display an overview.
NEW: 部品 components in the 部首図鑑
next to the 182 radicals, 236 pieces that keep showing up from kanji to kanji without being official radicals: 寺, 者, 古, 各… many are made of other pieces, and their page shows the formula (寺 = 土 + 寸, 莫 = 艹 + 日 + 大): tap a piece to open its own page. they unlock when you learn a kanji that contains them.
notifications, redone
no more the same message since day one. each day of the week has its own reminder, with your current streak. your kanji write to you themselves, so does the mascot, and the message changes every time. and when your streak is at risk, a reminder comes at 9:30 pm, only on days you haven't reviewed anything yet.
a sturdier streak
• vocabulary and readings count too: a vocab-only day no longer breaks it
• it no longer drops to 0 in the morning: it holds until midnight
• it's shared between iPhone and iPad, even when progress sync lags behind
• a card reviewed today no longer erases the trace of previous days
• お守り charms show up again on the home screen in notebook style
coming soon: from kanji to word 熟語
a little memo on the home screen announces the next mode: learn a kanji with its on and kun readings, then read the real words it appears in right away (水 is read みず on its own, but スイ in 水曜日). tap it to see how it will work.
also
• iCloud: for some people, sending progress kept failing since 3.0, fixed; the diagnostic (Settings > iCloud) now gives the real reason for a failure
• the level icon is no longer cropped on a kanji's page
• with the tab bar at the bottom, review badges are no longer cut off
• in English, a few texts left in French are now translated
The developer, Zoe GALBOIS, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Collected
The developer does not collect any data from this app.
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- Zoe GALBOIS
- Size
- 246.2 MB
- Category
- Education
- Compatibility
Requires iOS 18.0 or later.
- iPhone
Requires iOS 18.0 or later. - iPad
Requires iPadOS 18.0 or later. - Mac
Requires macOS 15.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later. - Apple Vision
Requires visionOS 2.0 or later.
- iPhone
- Languages
- English
- Age Rating
4+
- 4+
- In-App Purchases
Yes
- rakugaki plus - yearly $22.99
- rakugaki plus - monthly $2.99
- Copyright
- © 2026 sappy

