# Kanji Teacher - Learn Japanese — Kanji, Hiragana and Katakana

> Learn Japanese kanji, hiragana, katakana, and vocabulary with practice and mnemonics. (iPhone/iPad app by Christian Rusche.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/kanji-teacher-learn-japanese/id1048445761 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Christian Rusche](https://appshunter.io/developer/971175500)
- Category: Education, Reference
- Price: Free
- Rating: 4.70/5 from 299 App Store ratings · 267 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 13.0 · 105 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2015-11-20
- Data updated: 2026-08-12
- Monetization: free
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/kanji-teacher-learn-japanese/id1048445761/reviews.md

## What is Kanji Teacher?

A.: »10/10: The best app for kanji learning!«
B.: »Carefully crafted app. Very nice done.« 
F.: »Near-perfect app, 100% free and no ads!«
S.: »I'm using this app every day, it's addicting. I have tried a lot of other apps, but this one I love!.« 
K.: »A blessing to those wanting to master Japanese reading and writing.«
S.: »I've tried so many apps & this BY FAR is the best one.«
J.: »Free, no ads, no weird data collection, no in-app purchases; and the app itself is great too.«

Kanji Teacher knows not only all the 2,136 jōyō kanjis and their readings, but also the 10,000 most common Japanese words and how to pronounce them. This unique combination enables you to learn the Kun- and On-readings of the kanjis and apply and test what you have learnt straight away: both how to read a word and how to write a word you know. 

Kanji Teacher has more features you'll love:

○ Practise your writing with Kanji Teacher! Every stroke is analysed: do the position, direction and order match up with the correct way of writing? Kanji Teacher helps you out with hints to begin with, but as you progress further you’ll be on your own.

○ Kanji Teacher is also a Kana teacher: learn how to read and write Hiragana and Katakana. 

○ Kanji Teacher comes with two dedicated tutors – one for Kana and one for Kanji. These tutors will accompany you through the entire learning process, explain Kanji Teacher, introduce new characters, present the tests and celebrate achievements.

○ Kanji Teacher uses multiple choice so you can be sure that you really do know the answer. And it also compiles the possible answers intelligently, ensuring that they all make sense and are similar to the correct answer, because Kanji Teacher is a teacher after all – it's strict, but this helps you learn more quickly.

○ Kanji Teacher uses a Leitner system so you can learn easy kanjis quickly and focus on the more difficult ones.

○ Kanji Teacher comes with around 6,000 sample sentences: Around 8,000 tests have been created based on these sentences, where the corresponding Kanji is omitted and has to be found. In addition you will find tests for 127 important geographical locations in Japan and over 1,300 Japanese first names and surnames together with their reading.

○ Kanjis can be grouped by JLPT level and school year and, most importantly, you can switch between both views without losing what you have already done. 

○ Up to eight learning lists can be managed, searched, and the Kanas, Kanjis and radicals assigned. Additionally, Kanjis detailed in sections of popular textbooks and Kanken test groups can be assigned to one of these lists.

○ You can choose the correct answer, check it and move on to the next question with just one touch of the screen, which speeds up your learning and progress.

○ Kanji Teacher comes with Ulrike's Mnemonics, which were provided by Joy o' Kanji,a site where you can find playful, informative, photo-filled essays about each of the 2,136 Joyo Kanji.

○ Learning of radicals is supported in many different ways: with dedicated tests and an Analyze screen that shows which Kanjis are made up of them.

## Key features

- Learn 2,136 jōyō kanjis
- Master 10,000 Japanese words
- Practice Hiragana and Katakana
- Analyze writing strokes
- Intelligent multiple-choice tests
- Leitner system for spaced repetition
- Sample sentences and themed tests

## What do users think of Kanji Teacher?

Overall sentiment: positive

**Pros**

- 🚀 Extremely helpful for learning kanji
- 👍 Customizable and flexible learning experience
- 💡 Comprehensive coverage of kanji, kana, and vocabulary
- 🎉 Completely free with no ads or in-app purchases
- 👍 Intuitive and easy-to-use interface
- 💡 Spaced repetition and progress tracking features

**Cons**

- 🐛 Strict stroke order detection can be frustrating
- 🔍 Lack of ability to create custom kanji lists
- 🔍 Limited vocabulary examples and context
- 🔍 Overwhelming amount of content for beginners

**Commonly reported bugs**

- Occasional crashes or freezes reported
- Issues with data loss or reset progress

**Most requested features**

- Add ability to customize number of answer choices
- Implement palm rejection for better writing experience
- Provide more example sentences and vocabulary in context
- Allow users to create and manage their own kanji lists

## Recent user reviews (10 of 267)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/kanji-teacher-learn-japanese/id1048445761/reviews.md

### 5/5 — Exactly what I needed

*2026-07-09, version 14.1*

I’m so happy to have come across this app. It’s exactly what I wanted in a kanji tutor app, and the vocabulary section is also very useful! Thank you for making this.

### 5/5 — Awesome app

*2026-04-17, version 14.1*

This app is really great for learning kanji, I have used it for more than half a year and there are absolutely no ads it's completely free and works really well!

### 5/5 — incredible. efficient and effective

*2026-04-11, version 14.1*

absolutely great app. i can’t believe such a complex app is even on the market offering so much for free, 0 ads, and no annoying email account requirement. One think i really wish was included though, is an audible reading of the question to more quickly associate the sounds with the kanji. I greatly respect this developer’s practice. This is the best way.

### 5/5 — Insane how easy it is

*2026-03-24, version 14.1*

I never write reviews but I need to say this app literally taught me hiragana. I’m a bad student and don’t practice enough, but even after months of no practice I can read like 90% of hiragana I see. Now to tackle the other alphabets… 😭

### 5/5 — ok wowww

*2026-03-22, version 14.1*

🤯🤯🤯

### 5/5 — Essential and Great tool for kanji learning

*2026-02-15, version 14.1*

The most important thing this app has to me is including writing/stroke order of kanji as well as kanji reading tests. I feel writing is my preferred method of remembering kanji, whilst other tools I used may have it I don’t think they do well in remembering the readings. This app covers both excellently.

I also love that this app practices readings via both in words and general readings. These are very helpful both generally and if you wanted to nail the vocabulary/kanji section of JLPT tests. Truly well developed and structured.

### 3/5 — Good! But can improve

*2025-11-10, version 14.0*

Gives you 2 different pronunciations but doesnt tell you when to use each one. It’s good for refreshing what you already know but not for learning.

### 5/5 — Best kanji app so far

*2025-10-22, version 14.0*

This app has been the most useful app for me to learn Kanji. I have been using it for the past five or so years and the various divisions as well as “quiz” like structure to identify each Kanji really makes it easier to understand.

However, since the most recent update the ability to see the radicals and components of each can Kanji seem to have been removed. It would be useful if this could be added again as this was one of the most useful features in trying to understand each Kanji.

### 5/5 — Best Kanji app

*2025-10-05, version 14.0*

I’ve tried many different apps to learn kanji, and found this to be the best. I love that the Spaced repetition system is built-in, so that I don’t have to worry about when or how often I should revise a given character. Just fire up the app and go through the exercises. It feeds you. :)

The built-in dictionary, examples and mnemonic hints also extremely useful.

### 5/5 — Best Kanji app

*2025-09-20, version 12.5.1*

I use this app alongside the jisho dictionary app. For every new kanji I learn, I find it more helpful to write out the kanji in the jisho app and study the most common words that use that kanji. I love that with this app, you can customize the definitions of the words (although it took me a while to figure out how to do that), and I love that you can edit the “mnemonics” screen—of which I just dump various common words that use that kanji, and copy paste example sentences from jisho into this app. If the example sentences don’t read quite right in English (and I’m becoming a better self-translator), I’ll use deepl to form a more accurate English translation. 

I will say, I find it difficult to use this app for anything other than kanji learning. The vocab and listening exercises are sometimes very ???, even when looking at N5 level. For example, under the listening games, “What did she say?”, one of the example sentences under N5 level is “She gave me the fish eye.” ??? another is “Scratch a Russian and find a Tartar.” ??? ちょっと待って… まったく意味が分からない。

However, the vocab, listening, etc, don’t subract from the overall usefulness of the kanji learning aspect. It’s very customizeable. And I’m sure there are things about the functionality of this app that I still haven’t learned how to do.

I appreciate this app so much. As someone who is struggling with disabling chronic illness and お金がない, I thought it would be near impossible for me to learn Japanese.

Thank you for making learning a language more accessible for people like me.

本当に、どうもありがとうございます。

## Frequently asked questions about Kanji Teacher

### What does Kanji Teacher do?

Kanji Teacher is an educational app designed to help users learn Japanese. It covers all 2,136 jōyō kanjis, their readings, and the 10,000 most common Japanese words. The app also teaches Hiragana and Katakana, and provides tools for practicing reading, writing, and vocabulary.

### What are the key features of Kanji Teacher?

Key features include stroke analysis for writing practice, intelligent multiple-choice tests, a Leitner system for spaced repetition, and mnemonics for memorization. It also offers practice with sample sentences, geographical locations, and Japanese names.

### Is Kanji Teacher free to use?

Yes, the app is completely free to use and does not contain any ads or in-app purchases. It also emphasizes not collecting user data.

### What Japanese writing systems does the app cover?

The app covers the three main Japanese writing systems: Kanji, Hiragana, and Katakana. It teaches the readings and application of kanji, as well as how to read and write the kana scripts.

### How does the app help with learning kanji?

The app helps with learning kanji through various methods. It includes stroke analysis for writing practice, intelligent multiple-choice tests to ensure understanding, and a Leitner system to focus on difficult characters. It also provides mnemonics and sample sentences for context.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 14.1 — 2025-11-18

- All kanjis now come with Ulrike's Mnemonics, provided by Joy o' Kanji a site where you can find playful, informative, photo-filled essays about each of the 2,136 Joyo Kanji.
- The kanji strokes have been updated with the latest data.
- Scrolling on the search screen and keyboard handling have been improved, especially on iPads and when the keyboard is covering part of the screen.
- A bug that slowed down the presentation under certain conditions has been fixed. 
- Minor adjustments have been made to the example words.
Thanks to Chris and Eva for their valuable support.

### 14.0 — 2025-10-04

2,500 example words were added, bringing the total to over 10,000. 
- These include everyday language words, as well as Jukujikun, often used irregular words such as 明日, 今日, and 大和, and multi-character Kun-readings such as 面白い and 手紙, which were not included in the strict readings Kanji Teacher had before.
- Longer translations of the example words for the tests and the Analyze screen, also used in new tests where you are asked to provide the Japanese equivalent of an English word.
- Example words are now shown in color to highlight their regular and irregular parts.
- All example words are divided into six categories: Kanji Teacher Classics, Other Frequent Words, Mixed Readings, Irregular Readings, and Singles. These categories can be activated or deactivated for Kanji tests. Individual words can also be added or removed from the tests.

The Analyze screen was completely redesigned to be easier to read and navigate:
- Added new features, like visualization of Kana and Kanji in different fonts, as well as listing all Kanji that the selected Kanji is part of. 
- Also, many smaller adaptations like the possibility to undo made changes in hints and improved call to external websites to look up words easier.
- Improved font sizes and colors for better readability. 
- The most popular 5,000 Japanese words (containing a Kanji) are marked with "5k".

The Tutor has also been updated with some minor yet important changes:
- The screen introducing new Kanji and Kanas has now an Analyze button to obtain a detailed insight of the new character.
- The new "Fill Up" button allows you to add tests to the tutor when you want to learn more.
- Changed the recalculate review logic. The history of learning is now better maintained.
- For some tutor screens, pressing the screen will proceed to the next screen, and the text is no longer selectable.

Ergonomic improvements and additions in the settings:
- A new feature has been added that allows users to load all the kanjis found in a file into a list.  
- The length of the shown translations can now be defined in a new setting. 
- With a new setting, the user may remove all writing tests from learning sets and also progress. The setting allows to switch off Kana and Kanji independently if learning their writing should not be part of the learning experience.
- New Grouping "JLPT PLUS" with N0 for all Jouyou Kanji not covered in JLPT N5-N1.
- A new setting controls the question and additional information of writing tests. This is useful for users who want to learn Kanjis without the corresponding keyword.
- Now, many informative help screens are accessible via small info buttons for Settings, Search, and Tests.
- Improved support for variable window sizes on iPads, as well as adjustable text sizes.

The progress screen now includes a calendar with two features:
- Vacation days can be marked. These will not be taken into account when calculating reviews.
- A small and motivational representation of the learning progress, with points awarded by Kanji Teacher based on rules similar to those known from bowling.

Many small bug fixes and adaptations for example words and radicals:
- The only two example words in "Kanji Teacher Classic" with double Kun readings were removed: 千代 and 川上.
- Changed the default representation of the radical "door".
- Changed radical "two-branch tree" to "grain" and "dotted cliff" to "building"." 
- Some important corrections, like for the example word 遅配.

At this point, I would like to thank all users and reviewers of Kanji Teacher, especially these: Hector, Chris, Taylor Adams, Jan (t took some time to implement your request....),  Benny, Brett, Nicole.

PS: The save format of an old version of Kanji Teacher (32-bit, from 2018) is now no longer supported. Sorry, it was not possible anymore. I think there is still exactly one user out there using it: Please contact me; I will help you to transfer your data.

### 12.5.1 — 2024-10-11

o Improved test selection for the tutor:
- On the start screen, when the TUTOR tab is active you can use SELECT to choose the tests that the tutor will present. The previous, less precise setting is not automatically transferred.
- A new setting allows you to intensively test all kanjis marked with a star; they will be presented by the tutor once a day, regardless of their color.
- Another new setting allows you to choose whether or not the red and blue tests are displayed by the tutor. Regardless of these settings, the brown (review) and gray (new) tests that become red or blue are presented until they become green. However, if you choose to change the settings, this history will be ignored..

o Various adjustments for the answer of the tests:
- Improved logic of how answer buttons are arranged and how texts fit into them.
- For sentences, you can choose whether the words are spaced or not.
- The kanjis 唄, 岡, 栃, 埼, 阜, 茨 now have a reading.
- Obviously impossible answers, e.g. because a hiragana already present in the question is missing, do not appear or appear less frequently.

o The buttons on the bottom have been moved slightly inwards towards the center when the iPad is in landscape mode.

o Changes to keywords no longer affect example words.

o Minor adjustments to the manual.

o Unfortunately, speech output did not work in some cases on iOS18, this has been fixed. For this reason, I had to make this release earlier than planned. So, if your change request has not yet been implemented, the next release will try to address that. Thank you very much for your feedback.

o Bugfix 12.5.1: some tests of type “Word → Reading” caused an error if grouping was “School Year”.

### 12.5 — 2024-09-29

o Improved test selection for the tutor:
- On the start screen, when the TUTOR tab is active you can use SELECT to choose the tests that the tutor will present. The previous, less precise setting is not automatically transferred.
- A new setting allows you to intensively test all kanjis marked with a star; they will be presented by the tutor once a day, regardless of their color.
- Another new setting allows you to choose whether or not the red and blue tests are displayed by the tutor. Regardless of these settings, the brown (review) and gray (new) tests that become red or blue are presented until they become green. However, if you choose to change the settings, this history will be ignored..

o Various adjustments for the answer of the tests:
- Improved logic of how answer buttons are arranged and how texts fit into them.
- For sentences, you can choose whether the words are spaced or not.
- The kanjis 唄, 岡, 栃, 埼, 阜, 茨 now have a reading.
- Obviously impossible answers, e.g. because a hiragana already present in the question is missing, do not appear or appear less frequently.

o The buttons on the bottom have been moved slightly inwards towards the centre when the iPad is in landscape mode.

o Changes to keywords no longer affect example words.

o Minor adjustments to the manual.

o Unfortunately, speech output did not work in some cases on iOS18, this has been fixed. For this reason, I had to make this release earlier than planned. So, if your change request has not yet been implemented, the next release will try to address that. Thank you very much for your feedback.

### 12.4 — 2023-05-24

New setting "Smooth drawn stroke": 
○ By default, Kanji Teacher aligns a drawn stroke with the correct stroke. This allows for fluent writing, as mistakes are detected immediately and subsequent strokes can be drawn based on them. Experienced users of Kanji Teacher can now disable this behavior - or enable it only when Kanji Teacher detects an error, to continue writing the kanji in a meaningful way.

Two new options allow more control over when the pattern is shown:
○ "Levels for which pattern is shown at the beginning": The default is NEW and FAIL, but after some learning time this setting may make more sense only at NEW.
○ "Show pattern also when": Specifies whether the help pattern is displayed after a test is marked incorrect or the character is drawn completely. The second option can be useful if the strokes are not smoothed, then you can see the correct strokes at the end for comparison.

Other improvements:
○ Implemented about two dozen corrections to words, kanjis, hints, and pronunciations. 
○ Removed words and their tests that are 100% identical to a kanji (both the reading and the keyword).
○ Added a new voice and tried to improve the quality of the existing ones. PS: The quality of the voices and the exact pronunciation also depends on the device and is partly out of my control.
○ Font sizes have been slightly adjusted, especially for split screen on iPad and when display zoom is active.

As with every update, a handful of tests will be reverted to NEW because the correct answer has changed slightly. And: I am still working on requests that have not been implemented in this release.

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-12.*