This is a concise guide on how to learn how to read in Japanese. For something more comprehensive see the VNCR guide. If you have any questions, feel free to join the Void Shrine Discord server and ask someone there.
Last updated 2025-08-19.
Hiragana and Katakana are the 2 basic "alphabets" used in Japanese. You can learn them here.
Kanji is another writing system used in Japanese. ~3000 characters are regularly used, and each kanji represents a meaning. However, the pronunciation ("reading") of a kanji changes depending on the word it is used in. For example:
Unlike kana, it doesn't make sense to learn kanji or their readings in isolation. Learn words.
Memorise ~1000 common words. I recommend you do this with Anki and the Kaishi 1.5k deck. You can learn how to use Anki with the Anki Manual. I recommend the following Anki setup:
Addons:
Deck Options:
Speed Focus Mode Options:
Read through the Yokubi Grammar Guide.
The Yomitan browser extension will allow you to look up unknown words as you hover over them. You should install the following dictionaries in the order shown:
Many of these are monolingual (JP-JP) dictionaries, which provide more precise definitions and larger coverage of unknown words. You can look up unknown words within monolingual definitions by going to Yomitan settings > Popup Behavior and enabling "Allow scanning popup content".
To make sure results are sorted properly, go to Yomitan settings > Dictionaries and set "Frequency sorting dictionary" to JPDBv2.
You can find more dictionaries in Marv's collection.
At this stage you should use Anki to boost your memory for words encountered in your reading material. Download the Lapis-Modified notetype and read the instructions to set it up. Now whenever you look up a word in Yomitan you can make it into an Anki card (referred to as "mining") by pressing a green + button in the top right. It's a good idea to primarily mine words that have unfamiliar kanji readings as those words will be the hardest to acquire by reading alone. I recommend the following additions and changes to your setup:
Addons:
Deck Options:
Speed Focus Mode Options:
Mindset:
The reading process:
How to spend more time reading:
Read whatever you like!
For visual novels, you can use a texthooker (Agent or Textractor) and a clipboard inserter (Firefox, Chrome) to extract text to a texthooking page (or JL).
You can read novels (as EPUB or HTMLZ files) with ッツ Reader. 青空文庫 (Aozora Bunko) novels are available as epubs at MEGA.
You can read manga (with Yomitan-able HTML text) at the Mokuro Catalog. For manga not in the catalog, you can use mokuro or YomiNinja.
You can browse and track VNs with vndb and light novels with Bookmeter. You can browse and filter Aozora novels at ブンゴウサーチ.
If you're unsure on what to read, I'd suggest 月姫 (Tsukihime) as an easy visual novel that you can read for free in your browser. You can change the language to Japanese via Config > Advanced > Language > 日本語.
For more recommendations, see Kuri's recommendation sheet. Anything rated Medium or below is suitable for your first read.
Q: How much reading should I do each day to improve?
A: The more you read per day, the exponentially faster you will improve. 2 hours per day is the point where you will start to see decent progress. Don't worry if you can't do that much right now, your stamina will improve with time.
Q: I hate Anki. Do I have to use it?
A: No. You can reach fluency regardless of Anki as long as you read enough. Anki just helps to acquire words faster.
Q: How do I learn grammar past the foundation stage?
A: Read more. You can acquire all the grammar you will ever need to know just by reading and using Yomitan.