About nichiyomu
Nichiyomu is a Japanese reading practice app that meets you at your level and grows with you. It serves short Japanese texts at the right difficulty and gets harder as your reading improves, covering every JLPT level from N5 to N1.
The idea
Most Japanese learners hit a wall between textbook exercises and real-world reading. Textbooks are too boring, native material is too hard, and finding content at a comfortable but challenging level is often tedious.
Nichiyomu fills that gap. It gives you short Japanese texts at the right difficulty: hard enough to push you forward, but not so hard you end up frustrated. As your reading gets better, the texts grow in difficulty, so you always keep improving.
Why nichiyomu?
Reading is one of the fastest ways to make a language stick. Vocabulary, grammar and kanji only really click once you meet them in context, in sentences that mean something. Drills can teach you the pieces, but reading is what shows you how they fit together.
The hard part has always been finding texts at the right level. Too easy and you get bored, too hard and you give up. Nichiyomu handles that for you, estimating your reading level and serving texts in your sweet spot. These texts are optimal for short daily reading sessions, which over time will lead to real improvement.
What you get
Texts at all JLPT levels
Thousands of passages spanning N5 to N1, so there is always something at the right difficulty no matter where you are in your studies.
Furigana & translations
Toggle furigana on or off, and reveal an English translation whenever you want to check your understanding. It's one tap away, so you keep your momentum instead of jumping between apps.
Kanji & grammar notes
Kanji breakdowns and grammar explanations sit alongside each text, so you can dig into the parts that trip you up without leaving the page.
Audio readings
Hear how each passage sounds to train listening and pronunciation alongside reading, and connect the written word to the spoken language. The voice is AI-generated, not a recording of a human speaker.
Kanji breakdowns, grammar explanations and audio are part of the paid plans. See the pricing page for what each tier includes.
How it works
01
Read a text
You are shown a short Japanese passage with an English translation. Furigana, kanji breakdowns, grammar notes, and audio are available depending on your plan.
02
Rate your comprehension
After reading, you mark the text as Easy, Medium, or Hard. No quizzes, just an honest self-assessment on how well you understood it.
03
The system adapts
Your self-rating feeds into a rating system that estimates your reading ability. The next text is chosen to match your current level, so the difficulty always feels right.
04
Watch yourself improve
Your dashboard tracks your reading level over time, along with streaks and JLPT-equivalent benchmarks, so progress is something you can see rather than just feel.
The rating system
When you rate a text, your rating adjusts based on how the text's difficulty compares to your level. New users move quickly along the scale and as the system gathers more data, your rating stabilises and reflects your true ability more accurately.
Text difficulty is recalibrated separately using statistical modelling across all readers, so one person's rating can't skew a passage for everyone else. That keeps the system responsive to you personally while staying fair and accurate across thousands of texts.
JLPT levels
When you first sign up, you pick your approximate JLPT level. That sets your starting point on the rating scale: N5 at the easy end, N1 at the hardest. After that the system takes over and adjusts to your actual performance, whichever level you picked.
The JLPT benchmarks on your dashboard are reference points, not gates. You might start at N4 and find yourself reading N3 texts within a few sessions. The system follows your ability, not a curriculum.
To see what reading looks like at each level, with sample texts, browse Japanese reading practice by JLPT level.
Key terms
- Furigana
- Furigana are small kana (hiragana or katakana) printed above or beside a kanji to show how it is read. In Nichiyomu you can toggle furigana on or off on any text.
- JLPT level
- The JLPT (Japanese-Language Proficiency Test) has five levels, from N5 (beginner) to N1 (most advanced). Nichiyomu covers all five and uses the level you pick at signup only to set your starting difficulty.
Frequently asked questions
How does Nichiyomu decide how difficult each text is?
Each text's difficulty is calculated statistically from how other readers rated it, rather than being set by hand. This ensures that the text difficulty remains accurate for most people.
Can I change or reset my JLPT level later?
Yes. You can reset your level from the settings page, which moves your starting point on the rating scale. The system then re-adapts to your actual performance from there, so a reset is never permanent.
How long until my reading level is accurate?
Usually within just a few texts. New users move in large steps so the estimate finds your level fast. As you rate more texts the swings shrink and your rating settles on your true ability.
Can I export or delete my data?
Yes to both. You can delete your account and all its data yourself from the settings page, immediately and permanently. For an export, email legal@nichiyomu.com from your account address and we will send you a machine-readable copy of your account, preferences and reading history within 30 days, free of charge. See the privacy page for details.
Start reading today
Free to start. Create an account to begin reading, track your progress and build a streak.