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Kanji Trail

Learn Japanese kanji the way a first-year course teaches it — 314 JLPT N5 and N4 kanji, hiragana and katakana, and 1,100 real sentences to read as you go.

🤖 Android JLPT N5 free $4.99 unlock iOS coming
Google Play · Free
Why it's built this way

A kanji is not one fact

生 is read セイ in 学生 (student), い in 生きる (to live) and う in 生まれる (to be born). It has a shape you have to be able to write, in a fixed stroke order. It is built from parts it shares with dozens of other kanji, and it has look-alikes that are easy to mix up.

So Kanji Trail does not treat a kanji as one flashcard. Meaning, reading and writing are remembered separately, each on its own review schedule. A reading is introduced once the meaning is known, and a word once you know every kanji in it.

What's in it

A first year of Japanese, in one offline app

Everything ships inside the app: no account, no server, no ads, no tracking.

314 kanji, JLPT N5 and N4 In the order a first-year course teaches them, with an original mnemonic for each one that you can rewrite in your own words. See the full JLPT N5 kanji list and N4 list.
Hiragana and katakana Charts for both syllabaries with stroke order for every kana, and writing practice on the same grid the kanji use.
Every reading, in the words that use it A readings map for each kanji, and a quiz that shows you a word and asks which reading its kanji takes there.
Writing, checked stroke by stroke Genkouyoushi squares and KanjiVG stroke data. Trace it, write it over a faint guide, then from memory.
Printable practice sheets Turn any list of kanji or kana into a genkouyoushi PDF — print it, or share it with your class.
1,100 real sentences From the Tatoeba project, with checked furigana and English a tap away. A sentence opens once you know every kanji in it.
Tap a part, see its family Every kanji is broken into its parts: tap 木 in 休 to meet 本, 林, 森 and the rest.
A drill for your own mistakes 日 or 目? 休 or 体? The look-alike drill is built from the ones you actually get wrong.
My Class lists Paste a page of Japanese to pull out its kanji, then share the list with classmates as a link or QR code.
Free reference

The kanji lists, on this page, for free

Both kanji lists the app teaches are published here in full, with meanings, on'yomi and kun'yomi readings, stroke counts and an example word for each character — no app required:

What it costs

All of JLPT N5, free forever

Every one of the 79 JLPT N5 kanji is free, with every word and sentence built only from them, in every study mode — a whole level, finished, before there is anything to decide. Three class lists of up to 40 kanji are free too.

A single $4.99 purchase adds JLPT N4 and the rest: all 314 kanji, 1,557 words and 1,100 sentences, for as long as you own the app. No subscription, no ads, no account.

Works alongside any first-year Japanese course, including Genki. Not affiliated with or endorsed by any publisher.
FAQ

Questions, answered

How many kanji does Kanji Trail teach?
314 — the JLPT N5 and N4 sets, in the order a first-year course teaches them — plus 1,557 words built from those kanji and 1,100 example sentences.
Is it free?
All 79 JLPT N5 kanji are free forever, with every word and sentence built only from them, in every study mode. One $4.99 purchase adds JLPT N4 and the rest of the 314. No subscription, no ads.
Does it teach hiragana and katakana?
Yes — a chart for each syllabary with stroke order for every kana, writing practice on the genkouyoushi grid, and printable kana practice sheets.
Can I practise writing kanji by hand?
Yes. Each stroke is checked as you draw it against KanjiVG stroke data. Trace the character first, then write it over a faint guide, then from memory — only the last two count as review. Any set of characters can also be printed as a practice sheet.
Does it work offline? Does it collect my data?
Fully offline, with no account. There is no server, no analytics and no ads — nothing leaves your device.
Is there an iOS version?
The iOS build is finished and in review. This page will carry the App Store link when it is live; the Android app is available now.
Where does the content come from?
Kanji, words, readings and stroke order come from open, freely licensed sources: KANJIDIC2 and JMdict from the EDRDG, and KanjiVG. Sentences are from the Tatoeba project (CC BY 2.0 FR) and each one is credited in the app. The 314 mnemonics were written for this app. Nothing is taken from a textbook.
I found a mistake. What do I do?
Email support@wanderingdev.dev with the character or word. Corrections are checked against the source dictionaries and ship in updates.
Free reference

The JLPT N5 and N4 kanji lists

All 79 N5 and 166 N4 kanji with meanings, on'yomi and kun'yomi readings, stroke counts and an example word each. No app, no sign-up — read it here.