Wagotabi vs NihonMaster

Wagotabi is your daily companion for learning Japanese from scratch, at your own pace, and with maximum immersion. Learn to read, write, and understand Japanese in context, while retaining Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji. Use your knowledge directly in context, by interacting with locals, and using Japanese in daily situations. Discover real Japanese cities and culture while going on a quest to become a Japanese Grand Master. Designed in close collaboration with +300 Japanese language experts, official Japanese prefecture tourist associations and thousands of early testers, Wagotabi provides you with an immersive approach to language learning following a graded reader approach. Words and grammar points are introduced according to the JLPT standard, beginning with N5. — ◆ START from zero: the game is beginner friendly: no initial Japanese knowledge needed. Concepts are introduced step by step and used right away in-game. Non-beginners will progress faster and equally enjoy the game. ◆ JOURNEY in Japan: Explore real cities, learn to introduce yourself, order food, ask your way to the locals and unravel hidden secrets! ◆ COLLECT new words, Kana, Kanji and get detailed explanations on grammar patterns and conjugation step-by-step. No more overwhelming Kana / Kanji / vocabulary lists. ◆ CHALLENGE Japanese Grand Masters in their castle to earn their respect! ◆ COMPETE with fellow learners on Kana and Kanji minigames and post your top scores to the leaderboard! ◆ PERSONALIZE your learning experience: benefit from our SRS tool pin-pointing your weaknesses, create your own avatar, set the game difficulty. This is your Japanese journey. ◆ ENJOY a fully ad-free experience without in-app purchase, the game can be entirely played offline! — (Non-exhaustive) list of features : Interactive dictionary (with illustrations, tags etc.), clear grammar explanation, interactive tooltips, fully voiced in Japanese, SRS powered smart tests, interactions with environment, quests, 2 minigames (Kana and Kanji), boss fights, Hiragana / Katakana / Kanji stroke order and calligraphy, Kanjidex, resembling Kanji, conjugation, cloud save, advanced progress tracking tools … — The game is in constant development, with regular updates adding new content. Currently available content: +440 carefully selected words and grammar points +210 Kanji +680 example sentences +3000 voiced Japanese dialogues +400 unique NPCs in game All words / grammar are used extensively and in context for better retention — What our early testers are saying about Wagotabi: "You guys are a blessing to bring this to the learning market!" "I have been using some of the App's examples for my lessons and my students are responding to them really well." "I don't have the budget to travel to Japan, however I'm totally immersed in this game, learning effectively and witnessing my progress daily." "Thanks to this app, my kids are now self-motivated to learn Japanese and reconnect with their roots. This concept is so Kawaii!“ "I'm preparing a trip to Japan and will definitely go check these spots I already visited in-game." — Privacy Policy: https://www.wagotabi.com/privacy-policy Terms of Service: https://www.wagotabi.com/terms-of-service

I'm Joppe. I built Nihon Master because I was learning Japanese and the apps I was using were not doing it for me. Duolingo got me started but I was not really learning past hiragana. Anki is great if you build your own deck. Wanikani is great for kanji. I wanted one place that actually teaches the language. So I built it for myself. A few friends started using it. Then strangers. Now it's here. This is not a flashcard deck, and it is not a gamified drill machine. It is a real curriculum backed by real tools, built specifically for Japanese, where kana and kanji are first-class instead of a language pack bolted on the side. What's inside. A guided journey from absolute beginner through JLPT N1. Hiragana, katakana, kanji, vocabulary, grammar, reading practice. Every lesson has a clear point and you finish it knowing something you did not know an hour ago. Around 2,000 kanji with stroke animations, writing practice, and readings ordered by what you actually need first. Spaced repetition built on FSRS (the same algorithm Anki adopted in 2024) instead of the 1987 SM-2 formula most apps still ship. Twelve sub-skills tracked separately, so you can see whether your particles are fine and your kanji readings are the problem, instead of one meaningless overall number. Mock JLPT tests for every level, in the same shape as the real exam. Useful for the test itself and for figuring out where you actually stand. Native-quality Japanese audio on every vocabulary item, generated by VOICEVOX, an open-source Japanese TTS that does not sound like a robot. A sentence generator that builds sentences only from words and grammar you have already learned, so you never get jumped by kanji you have never seen. What's not inside. Streaks engineered to guilt you into opening the app at 11:59 PM. A heart system that locks you out until you wait or pay. A subscription that holds half the content behind a paywall. Ads of any kind. Everything works offline. No sign-in. No account. Your progress lives on your device. There are no servers, and that is intentional. I am one person making this in my spare time. If you have an idea, a feature request, a bug to report, or you just want to tell me which kanji is annoying you this week, please do. There is a Discord linked inside the app and an Instagram at @nihonmaster.official. I read everything. If Duolingo is working for you, honestly that is great, keep doing that. This app is for the people who tried Duolingo, kept the streak alive for six months, and realised they still could not read anything. Have fun with it. Let me know what you think. nihonmaster.com