Comparison

Explore Japan vs TABEMON

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Explore Japan

Learn Japanese language, culture, and traditions with useful phrases for travel and shopping. Practice with native speaker audio, access essential vocabulary by situation, and master grammar and greetings. Features include audio practice, search, favorites, tagging, and read lists.

Highlights
  • Learn travel and shopping phrases
  • Native Japanese speaker audio
  • Situation-based vocabulary
  • Grammar and greetings
  • Phrase practice with audio
  • Search and favorites list
  • Font size adjustment
Features
Read full description

【Explore Japan】 This app would be the best choice if you want to know Japanese culture, traditions and lifestyle as well as Japanese language. ■ You can learn Japanese phrases which are useful for traveling and shopping. ■ Native Japanese speakers’ voices are available for all the phrases in the app. ■ Essential phrases and vocabularies are introduced to you depending on situations. ■ With this app, you will know phrases, grammar, and greetings. = = Features = = ■  Practice phrases with audio ■  Search function ■  Make a list of favorite articles ■  Add tags to each article ■ Create a list of ‘you have read it’ ■ Font size adjustment In the URL below, you can learn how to read Japanese hiragana and katakana. https://iexplorejapan.com/

About

TABEMON

Read full description

Learn Japanese with Tabemon by immersing yourself in Japanese language, culture, and social etiquette for a fun and rewarding learning experience. Become a confident Japanese speaker by learning real-life phrases that you can use from the get-go. Designed by a team of Japanese nationals and foreigners living in Japan, the lessons are based on real-life situations and valuable words and phrases that one would use when travelling Japan. As you improve in your Japanese skill by clearing each course, you’ll collect Tabemon! These are characters based on popular dishes found throughout Japan. By completing each course, you will discover and collect Tabemon. How fast can you complete the set? Whether you’re a beginner, a traveler or simply captivated by Japan’s culture, Tabemon is the perfect companion for your Japanese learning journey! Why Tabemon? •Tabemon lessons include phrases, expressions, grammar points, vocabulary, and conversation. Each lesson has fun practice quizzes with differing levels of difficulty, so you can test what you’ve learned! •All vocabulary and phrases are taken from daily conversations, so you can use what you’ve learned from your first day in Japan! •You can practice listening and pronunciation. Improve your comprehension skills by listening to the phrases and conversations. Practice pronunciation by recording yourself speaking Japanese and compare it with the native speaker’s voice. •Tabemon is a way to learn regional words and phrases so you can speak like a local. In addition, you will learn different levels of politeness and recommendations for which situations they are best suited. •You can become familiar with cultural and social points and other trivia about Japan in tandem with the language lessons. •If you are short on time to go through all the lessons, you can use the travel phrasebook to communicate with locals and express yourself while in Japan. •Discover regional cuisines of Japan through the Tabemon characters that you unlock and collect by completing each chapter. Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Explore Japan4 screens
TABEMON4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Explore Japan at none against TABEMON's 2. TABEMON's advantage is iOS requirement (11.0 vs 15.1). On price, update cadence, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. TABEMON sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Explore Japan asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Explore Japan ships an update every 3 weeks, TABEMON fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
Explore Japan versus TABEMON: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterExplore JapanTABEMON
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (3 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings3 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS15.111.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size28 MB119 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperYuko KubotaVIRTUAL ARTS. Incorporated

In-app purchases

None

Explore Japan

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

TABEMON

Subscriptions2
  • Tabemon monthly plan$4.991 Month
  • Tabemon annual plan$49.991 Year

Questions

Is Explore Japan free?
Explore Japan is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is TABEMON free?
TABEMON is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Explore Japan or TABEMON have ads?
Neither Explore Japan nor TABEMON shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Explore Japan or TABEMON?
Explore Japan ships an update every 3 weeks, and TABEMON fortnightly. Most recently, Explore Japan was updated on October 29, 2026 and TABEMON on October 27, 2026.

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