Free · Web-first · Nothing to install

Learn to write kanji, not just read them.

NihongoIT is handwriting practice for Japanese learners: draw every character stroke by stroke, then produce it from memory. The part the big apps skip.

102 JLPT N5 kanji · Free account · Runs in your browser

Reading is not remembering

Most apps train you to recognize kanji from a lineup. Recognition fades. Producing a character from memory - actually writing it - is what makes it stick.

Recognition apps

Tap the right answer

Multiple choice and matching. You can pass without ever forming the character yourself, and there is no stroke-order or handwriting practice at all.

NihongoIT

Write it from memory

A blank canvas, the meaning and reading as your only clue, and your finger. Graded on strokes, scheduled by spaced repetition, so it stays learned.

Four ways to practice, one memory system

Every mode feeds the same spaced-repetition spine, so nothing you learn slips away.

Stroke-order writing

Trace each character with correct stroke order and direction, using authentic Japanese glyph shapes.

Production recall

Just the meaning and reading, then a blank canvas. Write the kanji with no outline to lean on.

Listening & dictation

Hear a word spoken in Japanese and write the kanji you hear. Trains sound to character.

Spaced review

A Leitner box system schedules each kanji for review right before you would forget it. A little daily keeps it all alive.

Memory hooks & pictures

Every kanji comes with a pictographic story and a simple illustration of its meaning, to anchor the shape.

XP & levels

Earn XP for every character you write and climb from Novice to Sensei, with a celebration on each level up.

How a kanji sticks

The same four beats for every character, in order.

1

Learn

Watch it drawn stroke by stroke, with meaning, readings, and examples.

2

Practice

Trace it yourself, then write it once more with the outline removed.

3

Recall

Produce it from memory on a blank canvas, from meaning and reading alone.

4

Review

Spaced repetition brings it back on schedule until it is yours for good.

Write your first kanji in the next minute

Free, right in your browser. Create your free account and begin with 一, the character for one.

Start writing free