KotenOCR
古典籍・くずし字OCR
Free · In‑App Purchases · Designed for iPad. Not verified for macOS.
An OCR app that reads classical Japanese cursive script (kuzushiji) using AI.
Features:
- Just take a photo to convert kuzushiji to text
- Powered by the National Diet Library's AI model (NDL Koten OCR-Lite)
- All processing runs on-device (no internet connection required)
- Copy and share recognized text
How to Use:
1. Capture a page with the camera or select from your photo library
2. AI automatically detects text regions and recognizes kuzushiji
3. Tap results to review, copy and use
Supports over 7,000 kanji, hiragana, and katakana characters. Optimized for Edo-period woodblock prints and manuscripts.
Licenses:
- OCR Model: NDL Koten OCR-Lite (National Diet Library, CC-BY-4.0)
- Inference Engine: ONNX Runtime (Microsoft, MIT License)
Source code: https://github.com/nakamura196/koten-ocr-ios
Ratings & Reviews
Improved local AI status messages. Now shows specific guidance when Apple Intelligence is not enabled or model is still downloading.
The developer, Satoru Nakamura, 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
- Satoru Nakamura
- Size
- 259.4 MB
- Category
- Reference
- Compatibility
Requires iOS 16.0 or later.
- iPhone
Requires iOS 16.0 or later. - iPad
Requires iPadOS 16.0 or later. - Mac
Requires macOS 13.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later. - Apple Vision
Requires visionOS 1.0 or later.
- iPhone
- Languages
- English and Japanese
- Age Rating
4+
- 4+
- In-App Purchases
Yes
- Large Tip $6.99
- Medium Tip $2.99
- Small Tip $0.99
- Copyright
- © 2026 Satoru Nakamura