Japanese learning made easy

Create Japanese flashcards with a quick scan.

Point your camera at a menu, a sign, a page of manga. Tanuki Deck reads the word and hands you a finished flashcard — dictionary reading, meaning, example sentence, picture and audio — in under 30 seconds.

Try it free for 7 days. iPhone and Android.

Tanuki Deck home screen: a 3-day streak, 35 cards in the deck, 21 to practice today
Card in under 30 seconds
Dictionary-accurate readings
Spaced repetition built in
One-tap Anki export
How it works

Encounter. Capture. Review.

Tanuki Deck does one thing: it gets a word you just met into a card you'll actually review, before the moment passes. Everything else is weight.

1

Point the camera at a word

A sign, a menu, a textbook, a speech bubble. Drag your finger over the word you want — the app reads it and finds it in the dictionary, even mid-sentence.

2

Get a finished card

Reading, meaning, part of speech, JLPT level, an example sentence with furigana, an illustration and a native voice. Facts come from the dictionary, never guessed.

3

Study it before you forget it

Each day Tanuki deals the cards about to slip. Flip one, tap how well you remembered it, and the schedule takes care of the rest. Keep the streak; skip the nagging.

A Tanuki Deck flashcard: headword, reading with audio, illustration, meaning and example sentence

Tap the card to flip it over — drag to tilt it.

The card

Every card gets all of it.

Not a word and a translation. A card you'd be happy to find in a real deck.

  • 読
    Reading and headwordKanji with the hiragana reading, straight from the dictionary — plus rōmaji if you want it.
  • 意
    Meaning and part of speechEvery sense the dictionary lists, and whether it's a verb, noun or adjective.
  • 例
    Example sentenceA natural sentence with furigana and a translation, so you learn the word the way it's used.
  • 絵
    Picture and voiceAn illustration in one consistent style across your whole deck, and native audio for the word and the sentence.
  • N5
    JLPT levelEach card is framed in the colour of its level, so a glance at the deck tells you how rare a word is.
Your collection

A deck that feels like a binder, not a database.

Every word you catch lands in your deck, framed by its level. Filter by N5–N1, group cards into your own decks — one menu, one chapter, one exam — and see how many other collectors hold the same word. Tap a level to meet one of its cards.

Study mode

Spaced repetition, without the spreadsheet.

Each card comes back right before you'd forget it. Ten minutes a day keeps a deck of hundreds alive.

Again, Hard, GoodThree honest answers. A card you fumble comes back tomorrow; one you know cold waits weeks. Cards you've truly learned count as mastered.
Daily limits you controlSet how many new cards and reviews a day feel right. Late-night sessions still count for the day before.
A streak worth keepingCatching a word counts as much as reviewing one. One optional reminder a day, only on days you haven't studied yet — never on the ones you have.
Hear every wordNative audio on the front and the example on the back. Play it on reveal, automatically, if you like.
Home screen with 31 words waiting for review
Tanuki handing over a stack of cards
Anki export

Your cards, wherever you study.

Already keep an Anki deck? Export any level, any custom deck or your whole collection as a real .apkg — pictures and audio included — and never think about this app again if you don't want to.

  • Opens straight in AnkiMobile, AnkiDroid or the desktop app
  • Re-exporting updates your notes instead of duplicating them
  • Cards arrive as new, so Anki's own scheduling stays yours
Pricing

One subscription. Seven days free.

Everything is included — reviews, streaks, audio, Anki export. The subscription covers the words you catch each month, and there's a bigger net for when Japanese is everywhere.

Pro
€29.99 / month
monthly only, for the heavy-catch months
500 new cards a month
  • Everything in the subscription
  • For living in Japan or cramming for the JLPT
  • Upgrade the day you need it, drop back whenever
Available in the app

Prices in EUR, billed through the App Store or Google Play. Cancel anytime; unused cards don't roll over. Reviewing the cards you already own is never limited.

FAQ

Questions people ask.

Do I need to know kana or kanji already?

No. Tell the app you're just starting and every card shows rōmaji under the reading and the example sentence. Switch it off in Settings the day you don't need it anymore.

What can I point the camera at?

Anything printed or on a screen: signs, menus, packaging, textbooks, manga, subtitles, game dialogue. Handwriting works when it's neat. If there's no Japanese in the shot, the app says so and asks you to get closer.

Are the readings and meanings reliable?

The facts on a card — reading, meaning, part of speech, JLPT level — come from the dictionary, never from an AI guess. Only the example sentence, the picture and the voice are generated, and you can regenerate any of them.

What happens to my photos?

They're read for their words and discarded. Your cards and their media are stored in your account; the photo itself never is.

Does it work with Anki?

Yes. Export a level, a custom deck or everything as a .apkg with pictures and audio, open it in Anki, and it's a normal deck. Exporting again updates the same notes rather than duplicating them.

Can I use it on more than one phone?

Yes — sign in with Apple or email and your deck follows you. Progress syncs, so a review on one phone counts on the other.

Tanuki fanning out a hand of flashcards

The next word you meet is a card.

Seven days free, nothing to set up. Your first card is waiting in the app.

Download on the App Store

Coming soon to the App Store and Google Play.