Every hiragana and katakana, unlocked from day one
Kanaday teaches the Japanese alphabet in about 5 minutes a day: 5 new kana plus the ones due for review, a quick quiz, and tracing practice. No lessons locked behind a paywall, no account, and it works offline. Kanaday is free and ad-supported.
Get it on Google Play
Nothing locked
All hiragana and katakana, including dakuon (が, ざ…) and yōon (きゃ, しゅ…), open from the first day. No premium tier.
5 minutes a day
Today's set picks 5 new kana plus the ones due for review, so you never wonder what to study.
5-step spaced review
Each character moves through 5 boxes. Miss it and it comes back sooner; know it and it waits longer.
Quiz in 3 directions
10 questions: kana to sound, sound to kana, and listen and pick.
Trace to write
Every character card has a trace pad to practise writing hiragana and katakana by hand.
Hear the sound
Tap to hear each kana with your phone's Japanese text-to-speech voice. Romaji shown alongside.
Kana chart that fills in
The full chart darkens cell by cell as you master each character.
Offline, no account, widget
Progress is saved on your phone after every card. A home screen widget shows today's kana.
FAQ
- Other apps make me pay after 4–8 lessons. Is Kanaday really free?
- Yes. Every hiragana and katakana character is unlocked. Kanaday is supported by ads; there is no paywall or premium tier.
- How long does it take to learn hiragana?
- With 5 new kana a day plus review, the 46 basic hiragana take about 10 days to meet once; spaced review then makes them stick over the following weeks. Katakana works the same way.
- Does it help me remember, not just see the letters once?
- Yes. Kanaday uses 5-step spaced review: characters you miss come back sooner, and today's set always includes the ones due.
- Can I practise writing?
- Yes. Each character card has a trace pad where you write the kana with your finger.
- Does it have audio?
- Yes. Kanaday plays each kana with your phone's Japanese text-to-speech voice. If that voice isn't installed, romaji and pronunciation hints are shown.
- Will my progress reset after an update?
- No. Progress is saved on your phone after every card and there is no login that can fail.
- Does it work offline?
- Yes. Everything, including the quiz and review, works without an internet connection.
- Is it good for JLPT N5?
- Reading hiragana and katakana is the first step for JLPT N5. Kanaday covers the kana only, not vocabulary, kanji or grammar.