# Shu: Write Kanji — Learn Japanese by handwriting

> Learn Japanese by handwriting (iPhone/iPad app by Damola Olagoke.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shu-write-kanji/id6823649232 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Damola Olagoke](https://appshunter.io/developer/1896239283)
- Category: Education, Reference
- Price: Free with in-app purchases
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 27.0 · 17 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2026-10-20
- Data updated: 2026-10-22

## What is Shu?

Write kanji with a real brush, and get corrected the way a calligraphy teacher marks a page.

You write each character with Apple Pencil, or a finger, in an ink that behaves like sumi on paper. When you lift the brush, your teacher looks, then marks in vermilion: a ring round the stroke that stopped where it should have flicked, the flick you should have made, and one word in the margin. Then you write it again, and get it right.

WHAT SHU MARKS
• Stroke order and stroke direction
• Shape, against the form taught in Japanese schools
• How every stroke ends: tome (stop), hane (flick) and harai (sweep), read from your Pencil's pressure and speed
• Proportion, if you choose Teacher strictness
Shu never marks a variant that Japan's official handwriting guidelines accept, and never puts more than three marks on a character.

A SEAL BOOK YOU FILL
Every kanji you write is kept on its own page of your seal book, in your own hand, with the date. When a kanji is truly learned, its page earns a vermilion seal.

DAILY REVIEWS THAT GRADE THEMSELVES
Reviews are scheduled with FSRS, the modern spaced-repetition algorithm. Shu grades each review from the teacher's marks, so you never have to grade yourself. New kanji are taught in three pages: trace, copy, then write from memory.

DECKS
JLPT N5 to N1, all 2,136 Jōyō kanji by school grade, hiragana and katakana, and decks you make yourself.

MADE FOR IPAD AND APPLE PENCIL
• Pencil pressure and tilt shape the brush
• Hover shows where the brush will land
• Squeeze or double tap on Apple Pencil Pro
• Landscape, portrait, Split View and Stage Manager

FREE
All hiragana and katakana, all of JLPT N5, unlimited reviews, both brushes, every strictness level, the full correction language and your seal book.

SHU PRO
JLPT N4 to N1 and every Jōyō kanji, printable practice sheets, and your own decks. Yearly with a 7-day free trial, monthly, or a one-time lifetime purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically until cancelled in Settings, at least a day before renewal.

PRIVATE
No account, no ads, no tracking. Everything stays on your iPad.

Stroke data from KanjiVG by Ulrich Apel (CC BY-SA 3.0). Dictionary data from the KANJIDIC and JMdict files of the Electronic Dictionary Research and Development Group, used under its licence.

Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: Free.

**Subscriptions**

| Subscription | Price | Period |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Shu Pro, yearly | $49.99 | per year |
| Shu Pro, monthly | $7.99 | per month |

**One-time purchases**

| Purchase | Price | Type |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Shu Pro, lifetime | $119.99 | one-time |


## Is Shu safe?

Not enough ratings yet to assess Shu.

## Is Shu legit?

Shu: Write Kanji has limited verification signals. The AppsHunter Legitimacy Score for Shu is 58 out of 100 points across 7 verification signals from App Store and developer data.


## Version history (last 1 release)

### 1.0 — 2026-10-21

No release notes.

## More apps by Damola Olagoke

- [Nuj — Couples & Daily Moments](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/nuj-couples-and-daily-moments/id6767691839)
- [Whisk – Pro AI Chef](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/whisk-pro-ai-chef/id6775459814)
- [Flick: Flipbook Animator](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/flick-flipbook-animator/id6823648633)
- [Take: Teleprompter & Director](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/take-teleprompter-and-director/id6823649092)

All apps by Damola Olagoke: https://appshunter.io/developer/1896239283

---

*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 2026-10-22.*