nowfound

Life & fun · May 7, 2026

DB

DAG-based Kanji learning through components

Hi HN I built this app while learning Japanese kanji after struggling to find a tool that showed how kanji are structurally connected through their graphical components. The core feature is a recursive DAG-style component graph (“Kanji Atlas”) that breaks kanji down layer by layer into radicals and graphemes, so you can visually explore how characters are constructed and related to one another. Demo at https://mykanji.app/components/kanji/鬱 I also built in a lot of my own opinions about how a learning tool should feel and work. Some features: 1. A kanji memory…

What it does

In the maker’s words, at launch

Hi HN I built this app while learning Japanese kanji after struggling to find a tool that showed how kanji are structurally connected through their graphical components. The core feature is a recursive DAG-style component graph (“Kanji Atlas”) that breaks kanji down layer by layer into radicals and graphemes, so you can visually explore how characters are constructed and related to one another. Demo at https://mykanji.app/components/kanji/鬱 I also built in a lot of my own opinions about how a learning tool should feel and work. Some features: 1. A kanji memory heatmap — the idea is that learners should be able to see at a glance which parts of the writing system they actually know well and which areas are weak. 2. Study desks + spaced repetition review for long-term retention. 3. Kanji, words, and graphemes are interconnected, so learning happens through relationships and context instead of isolated flashcards. 4. Lessons follow the Japanese school grade progression (Grade 1–6). 5. Quized sessions are hosted by Mizuki Sensei — possibly your future waifu! I’d especially love feedback from people who have gone deep into kanji study before. I’m also happy to answer questions and discuss feedback regarding the technical side, UX, learning approach, product direction, or anything else about the project. Visit https://mykanji.app

Does the same job

all alternatives →
  • Nihongo: The Kanji Update2024 · ▲127

    Understand the elements that make up every kanji

  • KanajiNov 2025 · ▲95

    Learn Japanese Kanji

  • AF
    App for learning how to write Japanese2012 · ▲55

    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…

  • KanjiLensJan 2026 · ▲120

    Kanji Lens is a Japanese manga translator and learning tool.

  • Learnji2017 · ▲181

    Learn a new language using emoji 😊

  • Kanji Ninja2016 · ▲140

    Fun game to learn 1000+ Japanese characters

More life & fun this month

the category →
  • TL

    Life & fun · 10d ago · louisabraham.github.io

  • Photosynthesis fires two of your iPhone

    Life & fun · 28d ago · photosynthesis.camera

  • SoloUno310

    Take control of hair pulling, nail biting & skin picking

    Life & fun · 28d ago · solouno.io

  • Scroll through all 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 reachable Rubik's Cube permutations.

    Life & fun · 26d ago · everycube.alen.is

  • The Interactive 3D Encyclopedia

    Life & fun · 21d ago · expeditione.fun

  • Hi HN, I built Eigendrum, a web tool that solves the 2D wave equation for arbitrary shapes so you can hear what they sound like as drums. How it works: * Solves -∇²u = λu using finite element analysis (Kφ = λMφ) on a triangle mesh. * Validated to <0.1% error against closed-form solutions for circles (Bessel zeros) and rectangles. * Sound model factors in strike location, Rayleigh damping, and mallet width. * Includes Kac drums I & II to demonstrate identical sound spectra from different geometries. * No frameworks, build steps, or dependencies. Repo and tests:…

    Life & fun · 27d ago · baselashraf81.github.io

Launched alongside, May 2026

the whole month →
  • Brew 905

    Like Claude design for email marketing

    AI · May 2026 · brew.new

  • Parallel agents, diff reviewer, and multi-model comparisons

    Dev tools · May 2026 · kilo.ai

  • StoreClaw805

    Grow your store profits with agents that know how to sell

    AI · May 2026 · storeclaw.ai

  • Give your agent a real number and voice to make calls.

    AI · May 2026 · pollyreach.ai

  • NW

    Hey HN, Henry here from Cactus. We open-sourced Needle, a 26M parameter function-calling (tool use) model. It runs at 6000 tok&#x2F;s prefill and 1200 tok&#x2F;s decode on consumer devices. We were always frustrated by the little effort made towards building agentic models that run on budget phones, so we conducted investigations that led to an observation: agentic experiences are built upon tool calling, and massive models are overkill for it. Tool calling is fundamentally retrieval-and-assembly (match query to tool name, extract argument values, emit JSON), not reasoning. Cross-attention…

    Life & fun · May 2026 · github.com

  • FM

    Dev tools · May 2026 · github.com