NihonMaster vs Kanji Time

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

Turn every glance at the clock into a Japanese lesson. Kanji Time is a beautiful bedside and desktop clock designed to help you learn Japanese naturally — one look at a time. The time, date, and day of the week are displayed in kanji with phonetic readings so you always know what you're looking at. Tell time in Japanese The time displays in Japanese format — 午前 (gozen) for AM and 午後 (gogo) for PM. Tap the time to hear it spoken aloud in natural Japanese. Learn the date in kanji See today's date as 4月13日（月曜日） with phonetic readings in romaji or hiragana beneath each line. Hide phonetics once you've learned to read on your own. Tap the date to hear it spoken. 13 rotating content panels — you choose Pick any two to display on your clock face. Long press any card to expand to a full reading view with larger text. Panels include: • Kana cards — hiragana and katakana with romaji, example words, and English meanings • Proverbs — a new ことわざ (kotowaza) every day in kanji, kana, romaji, and English • Cinema quotes — from 黒澤明 (Kurosawa), 宮崎駿 (Miyazaki), 小津安二郎 (Ozu), and more • Baseball quotes — from 鈴木一朗 (Ichiro), 大谷翔平 (Ohtani), 王貞治 (Sadaharu Oh), and more • Baseball terms, teams & stadiums — all 12 NPB teams and every home ground • Sushi vocabulary — 30 dishes with kana, romaji, and cultural notes • Zen quotes — from 道元 (Dōgen), 白隠 (Hakuin), 鈴木俊隆 (Shunryu Suzuki), and more • Music quotes — from 坂本龍一 (Sakamoto), 久石譲 (Hisaishi), 宇多田ヒカル (Utada), and more • Prefectures — all 47 都道府県 with capitals, kana, romaji, and regional highlights • Temples & shrines — 26 sacred sites from Kinkaku-ji to Itsukushima • Japanese cars — from kei classics (Jimny, N-BOX) to sports legends (GT-R, RX-7, Supra) Speak and listen Tap any card to hear it read aloud. Japanese content uses a natural Japanese voice, followed by the English translation — or switch English off in Settings for full Japanese immersion. Tip: download enhanced voices in iOS Settings for even more natural speech — Kanji Time automatically uses the best installed voice. World clock Add a second time zone and see the city name in Japanese — 大阪 (Osaka), ロンドン (London), ニューヨーク (New York) — alongside local time. Designed for the bedside table and desktop The screen stays on while active, with adjustable night dimming for sleep. Choose from five dark themes — Midnight, Charcoal, Navy, Forest, and Burgundy — all built around the amber LED aesthetic of classic Japanese digital clocks. No ads. No account required. Completely free. Works offline.