Stories, audio, and videos can all help you learn Japanese when you can follow what they mean. That is the idea behind comprehensible input: learning from Japanese you can mostly understand. Japanese makes that harder to find, because everyday writing uses 2,136 kanji on top of hiragana and katakana. These apps help you find Japanese at your level, or add readings and meanings to the Japanese you choose.
Custom Lessons Made for You
Bubblegum
Learn Japanese with a path made just for you. Start with your level, what you like, and why you want to learn. Your path grows as you learn, with new lessons that fit you. Bubblegum also has news and stories, so you can read and listen to a mix of Japanese about anime, food, travel, or daily life. Osaka (Kansai) and Fukuoka Japanese are courses of their own too.
Poppy, your AI tutor, writes each lesson for you. She can tie lessons to your goals, the news, or a holiday coming soon. If a sentence is hard to follow, just ask her to explain it.
- Read Japanese lessons for free.
- Read and listen to lessons, news, and stories about things you like.
- Furigana shows the reading above every kanji.
- Regenerative Review™ brings saved words back in new lessons, so you review them by reading instead of using flashcards.
- Ask Poppy for help as you read.
- You cannot bring in your own books, manga, or articles.
- AI voices read each lesson, not recorded voice actors.
- The free plan gives you one new custom lesson each day.
- Regenerative Review™
- Teaches Kana
Mobile
Read Stories Written for Learners
Satori Reader
Satori Reader is the reading app Japanese learners recommend most on Reddit. Its stories are written for learners, with explanations of grammar and culture that you can open as you read. It is one of the apps that inspired Bubblegum.
- More than 1,200 original episodes across dozens of series.
- Voice actors read every episode.
- Show kanji, kana only, or kanji with furigana, based on what you know.
- Grammar notes and sentence translations sit inside the story.
- Review words with flashcards that keep their context and audio.
- Flashcards
- Teaches Kana (partly)
MobileWeb
Tadoku Free Books
Tadoku Supporters, a nonprofit in Japan, publishes free graded readers with furigana, from very simple picture stories to short novels. It suits learners who want to read a lot of easy Japanese without paying.
- Free graded readers from the first level up.
- Many books come with narration.
- Read online, as a PDF, or as a printed book.
- Doesn't teach Kana
Web
Watch Videos Made for Learners
Natural Japanese
Natural Japanese is a library of videos in simple Japanese, with pictures and gestures that make the meaning clear. You can start on your first day and move up as you understand more. Some videos are free, and members get more.
- Comprehensible input videos at four levels, from complete beginner to advanced.
- Each video has a difficulty score from 1 to 100.
- Track how much Japanese you have watched.
- Doesn't teach Kana
Web
Read the News in Easy Japanese
NHK News Web Easy
NHK News Web Easy, now called NHKやさしいことばニュース, writes real news for children and people new to Japanese. It suits learners who know some kanji and want short, current articles.
- Daily news rewritten in easy Japanese by NHK, Japan's public broadcaster.
- Furigana over the kanji.
- Listen to each article.
- Doesn't teach Kana
Web
Todaii Japanese
Todaii Japanese turns the news into reading practice, with audio, a dictionary, and words to review. It suits learners preparing for the JLPT who like to read about current events.
- More than 10 news articles every day, with JLPT reading practice.
- Turn furigana on or off, and tap a word to look it up.
- Grammar breakdowns explain each sentence.
- Flashcards
- Teaches Kana (partly)
Mobile
Read and Watch Japanese You Choose
These tools help you learn from anime, dramas, novels, games, and web pages you pick yourself. They suit learners who already know what they want to read or watch.
Yomitan
Yomitan is the pop-up dictionary that Japanese learners use most for reading native content, and it is the successor to Yomichan. Pair it with an e-book or subtitle reader to look up words without leaving the page.
- Hover over a word on any web page to see its reading and meaning.
- Hear native audio and make an Anki card with one key.
- Free and open source.
- Doesn't teach Kana
Browser extension
jpdb
jpdb helps you prepare for the Japanese you want to read or watch. It shows which titles fit your vocabulary and builds a review deck from their words.
- See how hard an anime, novel, or game is before you start.
- Study a ready-made deck for the words in a title.
- Paste in any text to see its words.
- Flashcards
- Doesn't teach Kana
Web
Migaku
Migaku helps you learn from real shows, web pages, and books. Turn a word into a card with the sentence, sound, and a picture from the scene, then review it later.
- Look up words on Netflix, YouTube, manga, and web pages.
- See how much of a show or page you already know.
- Make cards with the sentence, sound, and a picture from the scene.
- Flashcards
- Teaches Kana
MobileBrowser extension
Language Reactor
Language Reactor shows Japanese subtitles beside a translation while you watch. It is free to install, with paid extras.
- See Japanese subtitles beside a translation on Netflix and YouTube.
- Look up words in a pop-up dictionary.
- Pause and replay one line when it goes too fast.
- Doesn't teach Kana
Browser extension
LingQ
LingQ lets you read and listen to Japanese from its library or bring in videos, books, and articles. It marks the words you know and the ones you are still learning.
- Read and listen to Japanese from a library, or import your own.
- See which words you know and which are new.
- Review words with flashcards.
- Content you bring yourself can be hard to follow at the start.
- Flashcards
- Teaches Kana (partly)
MobileWeb
Learn Japanese in Your Language
These counts cover menu-language choices, including script variants. Other apps’ counts and full lists come from their iPhone listings, except Language Reactor (Chrome Web Store). Satori Reader's listing does not name its languages. The free websites and Yomitan are in English or Japanese. Word meanings, lesson explanations, and other platforms may differ.
| App | Supported Display Languages | Full List |
|---|---|---|
| Bubblegum | 74 | Full list
|
| Satori Reader | — | App Store |
| Todaii Japanese | 14 | Full list |
| LingQ | 17 | Full list |
| Migaku | 4 | Full list |
| Language Reactor | 27 | Full list |
Other Apps We Looked At (13)
- Nihongo no JikanThe new home of Yuki, the founding teacher of Comprehensible Japanese, with free videos from complete beginner to advanced.
- Nihongo con TeppeiA long-running podcast in natural, easy Japanese, with more than 1,500 episodes for beginners and intermediate learners.
- NativelyCommunity difficulty ratings for Japanese books and shows, with a reading tracker.
- Yomu YomuGraded stories by native authors, with audio that follows the text and reviews built in.
- ShinobiGraded readings across 91 levels from N5 to N2, with native-speaker audio and spaced repetition.
- HelloStoryFree graded stories with audio, which you can read in kanji, hiragana, or romaji. It is new and growing.
- ttsu reader, Mokuro, and asbplayerFree tools for reading e-books with Yomitan, turning manga pages into text you can look up, and studying from subtitles.
- 10ten Japanese ReaderA pop-up dictionary for browsers, including Safari, that also shows pitch accent.
- Shirabe JishoA well-loved offline Japanese dictionary for iPhone.
- やさしい朝日新聞Free easy-Japanese news from the Asahi Shimbun, launched in October 2025.
- WatanocA free easy-Japanese web magazine with furigana and audio, for N5 to N3.
- Japanese Graded Readers (White Rabbit Press and ASK)Printed graded reader sets with professional narration, which many learners recommend.
- Anki, WaniKani, Bunpro, and RenshuuStudy tools for vocabulary, kanji, and grammar. Many learners use them alongside the reading and watching apps above.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to learn hiragana and katakana first?
Yes. Hiragana and katakana each have 46 basic characters, and most learners can read them within a few weeks. Bubblegum's free Hiragana course teaches them in your browser.
How many kanji do I need to read Japanese?
Japan's list of kanji for everyday use has 2,136 characters. You do not need them all to start: furigana and pop-up dictionaries let you read while you learn the kanji you meet most.
How many people are learning Japanese?
More than 4 million people study Japanese outside Japan, the highest number ever recorded in the Japan Foundation's 2024 survey. That is one reason there are so many apps to choose from.
Is Bubblegum free?
Yes. You can read the free lesson library and ask Poppy for one new custom lesson each day on iPhone and Android. Become a Bubblegum Pro for unlimited custom lessons and to support our team. The kana courses and Japanese guides on this site are also free and need no account.
Sources
- Hu and Nation (2000), Unknown vocabulary density and reading comprehension
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, 常用漢字表 (2,136 characters)
- Japan Foundation, Survey on Japanese-Language Education Abroad 2024
- Natural Japanese community, Important update for CIJ
- Bubblegum
- Satori Reader
- Tadoku Free Books
- Natural Japanese
- NHK News Web Easy
- Todaii Japanese
- Yomitan
- jpdb
- Migaku
- Language Reactor
- LingQ
Checked on October 2, 2026 against each app's own pages.
