Work · alternatives · 2026
24 alternatives to Kaku
Write Japanese with confidence.
Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes.
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I'm a long time lurker that recently quit my job to work on my own projects, a lot due to the inspiration from Hacker News. Now I have published my first serious project, an app for learning how to write Japanese characters. It's the app I always wanted but couldn't find when I was studying. It tries to be simple to use, you just start the quiz and go with the flow. There's no need to plan and manage your studies, and it uses spaced repetition for better retention. There's a promo page with more details up at http://www.kanjibyhand.com. It's only for Android so far. The free version includes…
2012 · kanjibyhand.com. · its alternatives →
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kaku.so▲4Japanese kanji dictionary + handwriting spaced repetition
Jun 2026 · kaku.so · its alternatives →
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Toku Reader▲111Read & listen to native Japanese and Chinese, tap any word
Jul 2026 · apps.apple.com · its alternatives →
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Fujiyama▲192Practice natural Japanese conversation in real-time with AI
2024 · apps.apple.com · its alternatives →
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Learn Japanese hiragana and vocabulary with cute characters
2023 · apps.apple.com · its alternatives →
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Japanese Writing & Speaking App
Nov 2025 · play.google.com · its alternatives →
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2014 · writerkata.com · its alternatives →
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Hi HN, Just wanted to share a tool i've been working on to help with my own study routine. It’s a browser extension called Lingoku. The idea is simple: we spend hours browsing the web in English every day. This tool replaces some of the english words with Japanese vocabulary based on your japanese level (Similar to Toucan, but with a better user experience). It’s basically an attempt to make the "i+1" method actually passive, you understand the sentence because it's mostly english, but you pick up Japanese words naturally from the context. It uses an LLM in the backend to make sure the…
Dec 2025 · lingoku.ai · its alternatives →
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Mainichi▲133Learn Japanese, one prefecture at a time.
Jul 2026 · mainichiapp.com · its alternatives →
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Kana Words▲76Study Japanese hiragana and katakana with this simply game
2023 · play.google.com · its alternatives →
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Kazu Navi (かずナビ)▲142Learn Japanese with clarity, context, and confidence
2025 · kazunavi.com · its alternatives →
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Hey HN, it’s been 8 years since I posted on here about the launch of my Japanese dictionary app Nihongo [0] and I’m finally back with a new app: Nihongo Lessons! Think of Nihongo Lessons as the textbook to Nihongo’s dictionary. It’s an app for learning Japanese, specifically made for learners who are serious about becoming fluent, and want a guided set of content that will help them efficiently acquire vocabulary and grammar. The project came about when Adam Shapiro of Japanese Level Up (Jalup) [1] announced last April that he was shutting Jalup down. As a fan of Adam’s work I was bummed to…
2022 · lessons.nihongo-app.com · its alternatives →
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I spent ten years trying to write a novel. Every time I sat down, I'd write a sentence, decide it wasn't good enough, and rewrite it. The problem wasn't discipline — it was that I could always see what I'd written and go back to change it. I tried other approaches. Apps that delete your words when you stop typing — they fight fear with fear. That just made me panic. I wanted the opposite: not punishment, but permission. "Tomoshibi" is Japanese for a small light in the dark — just enough to see what's in front of you. You write on a dark screen. Older lines fade, but not when you hit return.…
Feb 2026 · tomoshibi.in-hakumei.com · its alternatives →
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I quit my job last year and worked mostly on this full SwiftUI rewrite of my Japanese reading app, Manabi Reader. The rewrite gave me the opportunity to expand to macOS (and without Catalyst so it feels extra native) and redo the data layer to be offline-first via Realm with iCloud sync. The biggest differentiators compared with other language study apps are that it tracks every word/kanji you read so that you can see how much of a given webpage/article you're already familiar with and other features/analytics built on that foundation; it automatically builds a personal corpus…
2023 · reader.manabi.io · its alternatives →
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Fix your Japanese grammar. Understand your mistakes
Feb 2026 · fixmyjapanese.com · its alternatives →
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Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →