Kanji Lookup

Name: Kanji Lookup
Rating: 4.7 (2877 reviews)
Author: telethon k.k.

Reference

Free · In‑App Purchases

2.9K Ratings
Ages

4+
Years
Category

Reference
Developer

telethon k.k.
Language

EN
+ 2 More
Size

150.2
MB

Kanji lookup - simple, fast, and hassle-free! This App is not a dictionary or an exhaustive Kanji reference - and nor does it strive to be! Instead, it focusses on - and attempts to excel at - one thing: Finding the meaning of an unknown Kanji character as quickly and easily as possible using the only way that really makes sense on a touch-enable device: by drawing it. Stop wasting your time counting strokes, deciphering radicals, or learning the intricacies of 'well-designed' lookup schemes - simply start drawing the character and watch results appear instantaneously. KanjiLookup does not clutter your results with obscure readings only found in the name of that one mountain village or cross-references to paper dictionaries you most likely don't own anyway. Instead, it simply shows you what you are looking for: The character's pronunciation and definition. In addition, a searchable list of the most relevant words containing the Kanji character is only a tap away. Of course you can also search using the keyboard. KanjiLookup can even (optionally) search for all Kanji characters contained in text in the pasteboard. KanjiLookup was designed from the ground up for minimal start-up time, nearly instantaneous handwriting recognition, and a clean interface that doesn't get in your way. It currently contains information for over 3500 Kanji, including but not limited to all the Joyo and Jinmeiyo characters.

Ratings & Reviews

4.7

out of 5

2.9K Ratings

Amazing
09/17/2022

CreamedCorn
This app is one of two Japanese-learning tools that I couldn’t imagine not having (the other is Kanshudo). It’s so good that even if you are terrible at writing kanji, it’ll probably still return the correct result. One time I came across a kanji in a manga that was written with an INCORRECT radical variation but this app STILL gave me the correct kanji. It’s a godsend.To all the people complaining about it not matching the correct kanji: I’d like to stand over you and see what the heck you’re doing wrong because you gotta REALLY mess up the drawing for this to not work well. Or maybe you are trying to use the camera function which is admittedly not good (especially if you are taking pictures of your TV screen).
Amazing
09/17/2022

CreamedCorn

This app is one of two Japanese-learning tools that I couldn’t imagine not having (the other is Kanshudo). It’s so good that even if you are terrible at writing kanji, it’ll probably still return the correct result. One time I came across a kanji in a manga that was written with an INCORRECT radical variation but this app STILL gave me the correct kanji. It’s a godsend.To all the people complaining about it not matching the correct kanji: I’d like to stand over you and see what the heck you’re doing wrong because you gotta REALLY mess up the drawing for this to not work well. Or maybe you are trying to use the camera function which is admittedly not good (especially if you are taking pictures of your TV screen).
Great app. Helped me pass my class
06/18/2022

sliceofninja
This kanji app is amazing. The recognition tool is pretty good at identifying characters, although it can only read horizontally which is a small complaint of mine. However, the search function by writing the kanji by hand is pretty incredible. I’m bad at remembering stroke order but despite that and the fact that the characters I write aren’t always accurate, the app can still recognize what I’m trying to look up. Must have for anyone taking Japanese classes or trying to learn kanji in general.
Great app. Helped me pass my class
06/18/2022

sliceofninja

This kanji app is amazing. The recognition tool is pretty good at identifying characters, although it can only read horizontally which is a small complaint of mine. However, the search function by writing the kanji by hand is pretty incredible. I’m bad at remembering stroke order but despite that and the fact that the characters I write aren’t always accurate, the app can still recognize what I’m trying to look up. Must have for anyone taking Japanese classes or trying to learn kanji in general.
Readings, stroke order, video—it’s got it all
06/27/2025

DallasKokoro
Returning to recover my reading skill after many years out of the country, this app has been a godsend. It will find what you’re looking for no matter how sloppy your writing is. To learn kanji you have to write them properly, though, and the animated stroke feature is terrific for that practice. The example words are well chosen, too, and the sample sentences are great.
Readings, stroke order, video—it’s got it all
06/27/2025

DallasKokoro

Returning to recover my reading skill after many years out of the country, this app has been a godsend. It will find what you’re looking for no matter how sloppy your writing is. To learn kanji you have to write them properly, though, and the animated stroke feature is terrific for that practice. The example words are well chosen, too, and the sample sentences are great.
Unreliable, works great when it wants too though
12/03/2023

shrhkalalkd
Some nights the Kanji scanner works perfectly and gives furigana plus the English translations of the Kanji, which makes reading through Japaneae texts effortless and incredibly smooth. Other nights however it is completely worthless and only gives furigana and absolutely refuses to give English translations for even the most simplest of Kanji. Unfortunately it is literally 50/50 crapshoot on when this thing decides to work or not, literally only works as intended half the time, so it is unreliable and thus looses quite a bit of stars for me. A shame, because there is so much potential. Please fix these bugs and I will fix my review.
Unreliable, works great when it wants too though
12/03/2023

shrhkalalkd

Some nights the Kanji scanner works perfectly and gives furigana plus the English translations of the Kanji, which makes reading through Japaneae texts effortless and incredibly smooth. Other nights however it is completely worthless and only gives furigana and absolutely refuses to give English translations for even the most simplest of Kanji. Unfortunately it is literally 50/50 crapshoot on when this thing decides to work or not, literally only works as intended half the time, so it is unreliable and thus looses quite a bit of stars for me. A shame, because there is so much potential. Please fix these bugs and I will fix my review.

- bug fixes and performance improvements

Version 2.3.13

12/22/2025

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