In this language learning app, users read illustrated stories to learn Japanese vocabulary, kanji, and grammar through engaging narratives. Includes translation tools, audio recordings, and customizable reading options.
AppRecs review analysis
AppRecs rating 4.5. Trustworthiness 64 out of 100. Review manipulation risk 30 out of 100. Based on a review sample analyzed.
★★★★☆
4.5
AppRecs Rating
Ratings breakdown
5 star
91%
4 star
7%
3 star
1%
2 star
0%
1 star
1%
What to know
✓
Low review manipulation risk
30% review manipulation risk
✓
High user satisfaction
91% of sampled ratings are 5 stars
About Shinobi: Read & Learn Japanese
LEARN JAPANESE READING ILLUSTRATED STORIES
Shinobi Japanese centers on illustrated stories to teach Japanese through visually engaging and culturally rich narratives. Each story takes you through multiple illustrated pages, immersing you in Japan's language, traditions, and everyday expressions. With a wide variety of stories on diverse topics – from fun themes like aliens and magicians to unique, everyday scenarios – Shinobi offers endless ways to learn. Dive into a new adventure every day and broaden your understanding of Japanese culture.
Shinobi combines kanji, vocabulary, and grammar in one experience, teaching you how to use each element correctly within context for deeper understanding and mastery.
Key features in every story:
- One Click: Tap any word for translations, explanations, readings, examples
- Full-Page Translation: Understand entire pages with a single view
- Furigana Toggle: Show or hide readings above kanji for customized learning
- Grammar Explanations : Gain in-depth understanding of Japanese grammar
JAPANESE AUDIO FOR ENHANCED LISTENING SKILLS
Listening comprehension is critical in Japanese learning, and Shinobi provides Japanese audio for every story, along with a slow audio option. This enables you to:
- Practice pronunciation with authentic Japanese voices
- Improve listening comprehension and rhythm
- Follow along at your own pace with adjustable audio speed
BUILD KANJI KNOWLEDGE IN CONTEXT
Learning kanji can be challenging, but Shinobi Japanese integrates kanji naturally into each story, helping you retain kanji by seeing it used in real contexts. With our Click-to-Translate tool, you can:
- Access in-depth kanji breakdowns with meaning and pronunciation
- View example sentences and grammar notes for deeper understanding
- Toggle furigana to control when you see readings above kanji
SMART VOCABULARY REVIEW WITH SRS FLASHCARDS
Bookmark vocabulary as you read and review it later with Shinobi’s Spaced Repetition System (SRS) flashcards, designed to:
- Reinforce memory retention by reviewing words at optimal intervals
- Build a strong vocabulary foundation over time
DAILY NEW CONTENT AND CULTURAL INSIGHTS
Stay engaged with fresh, daily content. Each new story offers unique cultural insights, exposing you to Japan’s customs, everyday life, and rich traditions, making your language journey as educational as it is enjoyable.
PROGRESS TRACKING AND REWARDS
Shinobi Japanese keeps you motivated with progress tracking and rewards. Track your growth and celebrate each milestone as you:
- Earn XP, badges, and other rewards for each completed story
- Keep learning momentum with daily streaks and achievements
LEARN JAPANESE WITH SHINOBI
Shinobi Japanese combines the power of illustrated stories, native audio, and interactive tools to make Japanese learning enjoyable and effective. With Shinobi, every story is a new journey, a new way to master Japanese while exploring the heart of Japan’s culture. Download Shinobi Japanese today and start your adventure to fluency!
By using this app, you agree to the Apple Standard EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
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Reviews for Shinobi: Read & Learn Japanese
gtangjr
True iPad support and text size options lacking
I would pay to subscribe immediately (and I really want to!!), but there are two critical dealbreakers. First is the large font size isn’t nearly large enough. This is an accessibility issue and I’m sad the system text sizes don’t simply apply. All throughout the app there is tiny text that’s very hard to see for me, even with reading glasses on. I suspect there are some technical limitations here, but at the very least give us way more options. This alone makes the app super difficult for me. Second, real, native iPad support is woefully lacking and demonstrative of the understandably tiny team working on this app. Nothing scales well, leaving tons of empty space, for one, but most frustrating of all is that landscape mode and true window scaling isn’t supported. On iPadOS 26 in windowed mode the app will still run and not usually force me to rotate, thankfully, but there are still tons of issues with this, including distracting elements surrounding the app because I can’t just scale it to the full landscape window, lots of wasted space, forced rotation to portrait in full window mode, the tiny on-screen keyboard (leading to lots of typos), and anytime a system prompt occurs it forces landscape when rotation is locked to that setting (meaning the prompt is rotated 90 degrees but the rest of the app isn’t). Also, even if I wanted to use another app side-by-side (like to take notes or generate my own flash cards, etc.), there isn’t proper scaleable support for Split View or Slide Over. iPads are now natively landscape devices and all cases, and even most stands, are designed for this purpose. Long gone are the days when people use iPads in portrait mode as a default, even for reading apps. iPad is my primary platform for learning Japanese. I absolutely do not want to spend the majority of my time reading and learning one of the world’s most difficult languages on a tiny iPhone when I have a perfectly good, useful iPad sitting next to it. It’s hard to take any app seriously that doesn’t take iPad seriously as well.
BeeMeeWee
Good way to learn
Good way to learn
