「書く」より「読める」を
Read kanji on sight. Skip the writing drills.
One memorable image and one keyword per kanji, so the meaning surfaces the instant you see it while reading. No stroke order. No handwriting.
Free to start · On iPhone today · Android coming soon
記憶に残る、漢字の物語
See the method once
This painting is one kanji. Can you see it?
Learn 5 kanji right now
Tap a guess for each painting. No signup, about four minutes, and you'll read a real Japanese word at the end.
What could this mean?
山mountain
Three peaks, the middle one tallest. 山 is the mountain range it draws.
- 山やま
mountain
- 登山とざん
mountain climbing
漢字が自然に身につく
What's in every card
A picture you keep
Every kanji is painted as one memorable scene. Your brain holds pictures far better than stroke lists.
One keyword
One meaning to recall per kanji: 山 is mountain. Recognition, not reproduction.
Real words, broken down
花火 is flower + fire: fireworks. Every card teaches real vocabulary with readings and literal breakdowns.
Decks grade by grade
All 1,026 Kyōiku kanji in six grade decks. Clear a grade, start the next, watch the count climb.
Review that respects your memory
Spaced repetition brings each kanji back right before you would forget it. Fifteen minutes a day is all it takes.
スタディ開始
Inside the app
Flip the card, swipe pass or fail, watch the decks fill in.
まずは土台から
What recognition buys you
Read what you actually want to read
Manga, menus, signs, games. Kanji stops being the wall between you and the Japanese you picked up the language for.
Built to line up with the JLPT
The JLPT tests kanji by reading them as words in context, never by handwriting. Recognition is exactly the skill Ashiba trains, grade by grade.
Questions, answered
Is it free? What does it cost?
Ashiba Kanji Foundations is free to download and free to start. The full library is $4.99 a month or $39.99 a year, with a 7-day free trial.
I'm a complete beginner. Is this for me?
Yes, as long as you can read hiragana and katakana. The decks start from the very first grade-school kanji and build up from the foundation. If you finished the five-kanji sample above, you already know exactly how the app works.
When is the Android version coming?
Soon. It's already in progress. Join the waitlist and we'll send you exactly one email when it launches.
Do I have to write the kanji?
No. Ashiba is recognition-first: you learn to read kanji on sight, not to hand-write them. There are no stroke-order drills anywhere in the app.
How much is in the app?
All 1,026 Kyōiku kanji, organized into six grade decks, with a goal of roughly 2,150 kanji (the full Jōyō set). Every kanji comes with its own painting, one keyword, and real example words with readings.
Does it work offline? Do I need an account?
It works fully offline, and there is no account or login. Your progress lives on your device.
足場へようこそ
Ashiba (足場) means scaffold.
It's the structure you stand on while you build. Learn the foundation kanji first, and everything you read afterward stands on them.
Or take new kanji lessons by email.