Frequently asked questions

Yes. The whole journey, reviews, flashcards, practice exams and Densha are free, on the site and in the iPhone, iPad and Android apps, with no ads and no hidden subscription.

Yes. The trial only asks for a username and your level: you start playing right away with a guest account, for 3 lessons. Then you create your free account (email, Google or Apple) and all your progress is kept. A guest account that is never turned into a full account is deleted after 30 days without a visit.

Yes, with "Continue with Google" or "Continue with Apple" on the sign-in and sign-up pages, on the site and in the apps. Kotojutsu only receives your email address (with Apple, the relay address if you choose to hide yours) and your account ID, not your name or photo. If an account already exists with the same address, it is simply linked to Google or Apple.

With hiragana, the first lines of the dojo. A lesson takes three to ten minutes (the first one, the five vowels, is the shortest): a little discovery, then exercises. Katakana, then the N5 kanji and grammar follow in order.

From the very beginning up to JLPT N1, across five metro networks: Tokyo (N5), Osaka (N4), Kyoto (N3), Nagoya (N2) and the Shinkansen (N1). Each network is played line by line, and each line ends with a yōkai to defeat.

Yes, it's a guided path. Each line has a theme (first words, counting, time, the city…) and brings together the words, kanji and grammar points that belong together. Each grammar point builds on the previous ones, and each lesson unlocks the next.

No. A placement test marks the lines you have mastered as done in one go (80% correct answers). At the start, you can also say "I've passed N5, N4…": that whole level is marked as done, and you can still replay it. The test stays available in the dojo while you are on kana, and each line of the map has its own.

A setting that opens every line, lesson, yōkai and text at once, so you can move in the order you like. Your progress doesn't change, and you can turn it off at any time in the settings.

With spaced repetition: each kana, kanji, word or grammar point comes back just before you would forget it, less and less often once you know it well. The Reviews section shows what is due today.

Yes, in the settings: automatic (it follows your pace over the last two weeks) or the number of XP you choose, up to 3,000 a day.

On top of the words from your lessons, flashcards add new cards every day (10 by default) from the decks ticked in their settings: themed decks follow the lesson order, JLPT decks give the most common words first. To review only your lessons, untick the decks or set new cards per day to 0.

Yes: the Flashcards section imports an Anki deck (.apkg) and turns it into a Kotojutsu deck, reviewed like the others. You can also create your own decks, keep them private or share them with the community.

With fill-in-the-blank sentences, in the Grammar section: sets of 20 sentences to complete with the right particle, or the correctly conjugated verb or adjective. You choose the level, the type of sentences, and only the points you have already seen or the whole level, or a single point. You answer by tapping the right answer or typing it, and a missed sentence comes back later in the set.

With the quizzes, in the Flashcards section: 20 questions on the words or kanji of a level, from N5 to N1, on what you have already seen or on the whole level. You answer by tapping the right answer or typing it. In reviews, the "Always type in reviews" option also replaces the four choices with an answer to type.

Yes, 50 of them: 10 per level, from N5 to N1, under exam conditions (timed) or as practice. Your mistakes can join your reviews.

The site's little metro train, an AI assistant for members. It answers your questions about Japanese (grammar, words, kanji, short translations) and about the site itself, and can take you to the right page. The number of questions per day is limited, and it can be wrong: it's an AI. Kotojutsu never keeps the text of your conversations.

Yes, in the settings: a female or male voice (AivisSpeech), or Google's voice.

Yes, two. The iPhone and iPad app is free on the App Store (search for Kotojutsu): the journey, flashcards, kana to trace with your finger, widgets and a daily reminder. The Android app is a free download on kotojutsu.com/app. Same account and same progress as on the site.

Install Kotojutsu from the App Store: the official version replaces the TestFlight one without uninstalling anything, and your progress is kept on your account. You can then delete TestFlight.

In the settings, under Appearance: Day, Night, Washi, Sakura, Matcha, or Automatic to follow your device.

Yes, both, in the settings. The leaderboard is optional: untick "Show me on the leaderboard" and your username no longer appears there.

In the settings, under "My data": a file with everything Kotojutsu knows about you, or the immediate and permanent deletion of your account. The details are in the privacy policy.

The "Report a problem" button in lessons, exercises, flashcards, readings, kanji and dictionary pages, the Kotojutsu Discord server, or the contact address in the legal notice. Every message is read.