Top 13 Apps To Learn Japanese for Travel in 2025
Have a trip to Japan coming up this year and like some help to practise some Japanese phrases so you can communicate better with locals?
You are in the right place.
Many travelers feel overwhelmed by the thought of navigating a country where the signs, menus, and conversations are in Japanese. But fear not—language-learning apps are here to save the day.
Whether you want to order ramen like a pro, ask for directions, or simply say "good afternoon" in Japanese, these apps are your ultimate travel companions. We’ve handpicked the top 13 apps to help you learn Japanese specifically for travel. From mastering basic phrases to building your confidence in real-world conversations, these tools are perfect for every kind of learner. Let’s dive in!
Best Apps to Learn Japanese
Duolingo
Photo by Logos-world
Duolingo is a popular language learning app that makes learning Japanese fun and accessible. Its short, engaging lessons are great for picking up basic vocabulary and phrases.
Key Features:
Bite-Sized Lessons: Learn in just 5–10 minutes a day.
Gamification: Earn gems, streaks, and rewards for staying consistent.
Holistic Curriculum: Covers multiple aspects such as reading, writing, listening, and speaking.
Advantages:
Ideal for beginners starting from scratch.
Fun and addictive interface keeps you motivated.
Disadvantages:
Limited focus on practical conversation and cultural nuances.
Grammar explanations can feel oversimplified which leaves you reliant on other learning resources
Pricing:
Free with ads.
Super Duolingo (Monthly): $9.99/month.
Super Duolingo (Annual): $83.99/year
Sakuraspeak
Sakuraspeak is an AI-powered app designed to improve your conversational Japanese. It focuses on real-world travel scenarios, such as ordering coffee in a cafe, asking for directions at a train station, or buying groceries at the supermarket, making it a must-have for anyone visiting Japan who doesn’t want to rely on Google Translate all the time.
Key Features:
Role-Play Scenarios: Practice conversations for ordering food, shopping, or asking for directions.
AI Grammar Feedback: Get instant corrections on your grammar so you can practise in real-time
Vocabulary breakdown: Expose yourself to vocabulary phrases that you might not be familiar with
Hints: Stuck on how to say something in Japanese? Just input your idea in English, and the AI will give you a helpful hint in Japanese to guide you toward completing the sentence.
Advantages:
Perfect for travelers with practical, scenario-based learning.
Encourages speaking early, building confidence quickly.
Easy-to-use interface with engaging features such as daily streaks
Disadvantages:
Does not provide much features for other aspects of learning like writing.
Pricing:
Monthly Plan: $9.99
Annual Plan: $79.99
Anki
Anki is a powerful flashcard app that uses spaced repetition to help you memorize Japanese vocabulary and kanji efficiently. It’s one of our favorite apps we recommend to learners when it comes to building up a strong vocabulary base.
For starters, the Core1000 Anki deck familiarizes well quickly with the 1000 most commonly used vocabulary in Japanese, which speeds up your learning if your goal is to become fluent fast.
Key Features:
Spaced Repetition: Reviews are timed for optimal retention.
Pre-Made Decks: Decks are arranged according to the most commonly used vocabulary and JLPT-specific words.
Customizable Flashcards: Add images, audio, and mnemonics to cater to different learning styles.
Advantages:
Excellent for vocabulary building
Free desktop version available
Disadvantages:
Not beginner-friendly without guidance.
Requires consistent self-discipline.
Pricing:
Free for desktop.
Mobile App: $24.99 (one-time fee for iOS).
Rosetta Stone
Rosetta Stone is a pioneer of the language learning industry focusing on immersive learning based around multiple-choice questions, which gradually teach new words and verbs before testing you on various combinations of these using a range of questions.
After seeing a number of pictures, you are asked to choose the correct response depending on what you have read or heard. In order to introduce the student to new ideas gradually as they acquire the language, the course is structured to be cumulative. All memberships include with free Live Lessons in the most recent edition.
A Rosetta Stone Japanese subscription includes 12 lesson modules, each comprising four one-hour sessions. Lessons are conducted in real-time, with several scheduled each month. The subscription also provides on-demand videos (currently limited to four one-minute English-language videos), narrated stories by native speakers (typically two per module), and downloadable audio companions for review. Additional features include a Hiragana and Katakana table with voiceovers, Romaji support, group classes, and live interactive lessons.
Key Features:
Immersive Method: Learn through images and context instead of direct translations.
Group Classes: Have the option to learn from real native speakers while studying in the app.
Advantages:
Simple to use: Rosetta Stone has a clean and user-friendly interface which makes it easy for beginners to use.
Pioneer of the space: The brand is well-recognized for being one of the oldest software companies in the language learning industry.
Disadvantages:
Outdated techniques: Their curriculum has not been updated in a long time as they still resort to traditional methods like images and isolated audio clips in a world where new technology like AI is being introduced every few years to aid remote learning.
Repetitive syllabus: It’s unfortunate to see that the curriculum is identical to all of their other languages, which shows a lack of depth when it comes to designing the Japanese program.
Pricing:
Unlimited Languages (Annual): $109.99
Unlimited Languages (Lifetime): $199.99
WaniKani
WaniKani is a dedicated kanji learning platform that functions as your personal trainer, leveraging a spaced repetition system (SRS) and mnemonic techniques to help you master Japanese radicals, kanji, and vocabulary. Its curriculum is structured into 60 levels, and it boasts the ability to teach you approximately 2,000 Jōyō kanji (常用漢字) and 6,000 words in just over 12 months.
Key Features:
Structured learning path: You start with basics, then slowly progress to full Kanji characters, which makes it less intimidating for beginners
Spaced Repetition: It simulates Anki by regularly showing words you have been exposed to multiple times over a period to stimulate your memory
Mnemonics: Perhaps the most famous feature of WaniKani is its unique way of having a mnemonic for every Kanji radical so it sticks into your brain as an English native speaker
Advantages:
Well-organized content so you are not wasting your energy on impractical Kanji
Strong community as it has built quite a huge following among Japanese learners
Disadvantages:
Limited focus on writing Kanji
Not ideal for complete beginners who still haven’t foundational grammar
Pricing:
Monthly Plan: $9 per month
Annual Plan: $89 per year
Lifetime Plan: $299
LingoDeer
Photo by Tofugu
LingoDeer is a language app specifically designed for Asian languages, including Japanese, Mandarin, and Korean. It offers in-depth lessons on grammar, vocabulary, and sentence structure.
Key Features:
App & Browser Friendly: You can use the app on your phone or on your desktop to study
Audio Recordings: All sentences are voiced by native speakers which is important for picking up things like pitch accent
Travel Phrasebook: Tailored for travelers with hundreds of basic phrases to choose from on topics like dining out, going to the doctor, or buying things
Advantages:
Offline learning choice
Complimentary travel guidebook
Disadvantages:
More tailored towards beginner versus intermediate learners
Lesson roadmap can be quite strict as they lock later lessons and you have to pass the previous ones first like Duolingo
Pricing:
Multilingual Pass (Monthly): $14.99/month
Multilingual Pass (Annual): $79.99/year
Multilingual Pass (Lifetime): $159.99
HelloTalk
Photo by PCMag
HelloTalk connects you with native Japanese speakers for real-time language exchange. It’s a great way to practice conversational skills and learn cultural nuances from a real person without paying a subscription.
Key Features:
Chat and Voice Messaging: Communicate directly with native speakers.
Language Exchange: Make friends with Japanese people by teaching them your native language in return
Advantages:
Great for real-world practice as you are talking to native Japanese speakers
Strong community as it’s been in the market for many years, so you get to meet people from all walks of life
Disadvantages:
Dependent on finding active, responsive partners which can be slower as Japanese people tend to be more introverted
Less structured compared to traditional apps like Duolingo or WaniKani
Pricing:
Free plan with ads.
VIP (Monthly): $12.99/month
VIP (Yearly): $79.99/year
Pimsleur
Pimsleur focuses on audio-based learning, helping you develop conversational skills by listening and repeating phrases. It’s usually more popular with busy professionals looking to move to Japan for work and learn on the go.
Key Features:
Audio Lessons: Focus on listening and speaking.
Hands-free Learning: Study while commuting or multitasking.
Advantages:
Excellent for shadowing practice
Convenient for learners with busy schedules
Disadvantages:
No opportunity to actually practise speaking the phrases you learn out loud to a conversational partner
Limited grammar feedback to let you know if you are speaking with the right particles and sentence structure
Pricing:
All Access Subscription (Monthly): $20.99/month
All Access Subscription (Annual): $131.99/year
Renshuu
Renshuu is one of our favorite resources when it comes to studying Japanese grammar for free. The app was started as a passion project after the founder moved to Japan and studied as an English native speaker. The app offers a hybridized learning approach, covering recorded lessons taught by an English native speaker while including fun games to practise what you have learnt.
Key Features:
Grammar-heavy Drills: Tailored lessons for beginners looking to improve their grammar
Community Features: Join study groups in their Discord server and compete in challenges every few months hosted by the community
Content Library: The lessons are actually taught by the founder who also happens to teach Japanese on the side, so it’s a great combination with the app for a self-learner
Advantages:
Free version includes a lot of features like the content library and grammar drills
Strong community as they have over 20,000 members on Discord
Disadvantages:
UI can feel overwhelming especially if you are new to the app.
Less emphasis on speaking which might not be ideal for travellers who want to be fluent in Japanese.
Pricing:
Free plan available with most features unlocked
Pro subscription (Monthly): $6.99/month
Lifetime Renshuu Pro: $109.99
Busuu
Busuu is another popular app in the language learning space that prioritizes speaking with their speech recognition technology.
Key Features:
Customized roadmap based on your language learning goals
Community feedback: Get corrections from more advanced learners using the app
Advantages:
Offers feedback on your exercises from real people for free
Holistic approach as it covers different topics like vocabulary, grammar, and Japanese culture
Disadvantages:
Content can be quite boring if you are used to gamified apps like Duolingo
It’s possible to get wrong corrections as these learners are not native speakers or teachers
Pricing:
Premium Plan (Monthly): $15/month
Premium Plan (Yearly): $89.99/year
Bunpro
A language learning app tailored towards learning Japanese grammar. While its utility for grammar may be used for free, its main function of providing SRS reviews and decks are locked behind a paywall. Regardless, if you can leverage the grammar library alone and emulate the SRS yourself, it is an invaluable addition to your arsenal of language learning tools.
Key Features:
Example sentences for each grammar point to practice with conjugations
Free reading practice provided based on JLPT level.
Comprehensive explanation of each grammatical point, including nuances compared to other similar grammatical points.
Reading practice is available to see grammar points used in context.
Advantages:
Smooth UI with customisation of flashcard display style.
Reasonably flexible answer detection.
Additional GOKANA function to master recognising Hiragana/Katakana
1 month trial provided to try out premium functions before commiting.
Cram function available for last minute JLPT studies.
Disadvantages:
UI can take some getting used to.
SRS for vocabulary is not as well-optimized.
User input functions are locked behind a paywall.
Pricing:
Monthly: $5/month
Yearly: $50/year
Lifetime: $150
Clozemaster
The go-to vocabulary building app for intermediate language learners, this app’s utility is likewise undeniable for Japanese. While the free version is not too impressive, the paid version of the app is remarkably versatile.
Key Features:
Mastery tracker for progress towards integrating a word into your vocabulary.
Slightly gamified with a streak system, leveling system and so on. If you’re used to Duolingo, this is the logical next-step up.
Content may be tuned to one’s preference: translations, alternative answers, notes, etc.
Advantages:
May be used for other languages.
Acknowledges different learning approaches: JLPT approach, the most common words approach, etc.
Plug-n-play: Comparatively accessible among SRS apps.
Disadvantages:
Most of its value is locked behind a paywall. Not every deck is available to free users.
Not the best in terms of getting word definitions; selecting a word simply links the user to Wiktionary.
Translations can be unintuitive at times, especially for a context based language like Japanese.
Pricing:
Monthly: $15/month
Yearly: $75/year
Lifetime: $230
Satori Reader
A reader app providing comprehensible input for learners via stories. Not the boring, cringe ones seen in textbooks either.
Key Features:
Accessible, interesting stories for all levels.
Translation function for every sentence of the story.
Voice samples provided with ability to slow down or speed up audio.
Ability to add newly encountered words into a study list.
Distinction between kunyomi and onyomi reading, as well as explanation of word choice and writing style provided.
Presentation style can be modified: Furigana/Kanji/Space toggling.
Advantages:
Comprehensible input even from an early level that is not dogwater textbook cringe.
Clear examples of practical grammatical applications.
Voice samples along with speed control allows for simultaneous shadowing practice.
Can doubly function as a word bank.
Aside from stories, some real life scenarios are provided.
Disadvantages:
Difficulty spikes can be noticeable between levels.
Release of new stories are reported to be sparse.
Requires effort on the user's end for sentence mining.
Offline access requires copious amounts of downloads. Otherwise, accessible content is dependent on cloud access.
Full library access requires a premium subscription.
Pricing:
Monthly: $9/month
Yearly: $89/year
Learning Japanese as a traveller doesn’t have to be scary
No single app can make you fluent in all aspects. Each app excels in specific areas, from vocabulary building to grammar drills and real-life conversational practice. The key is to combine multiple resources and tailor your learning journey to your needs.
For example, you might start by using Anki to build a strong vocabulary foundation with spaced repetition. Pair this with Renshuu to strengthen your grammar skills through structured lessons. Once you’ve gained confidence in vocabulary and grammar, transition to Sakuraspeak to practice real-life conversations in travel scenarios, such as asking for directions or ordering food.
By mixing and matching tools, you can cover all the essential components of language learning—reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Experiment with different apps to find the combination that keeps you motivated and helps you make steady progress.
At the end of the day, consistency and practice are your greatest allies. Whether you spend 10 minutes a day on Duolingo or an hour with Pimsleur during your commute, every effort brings you closer to your goal. The journey to mastering Japanese might take time, but with the right tools and mindset, you’ll be ready to explore Japan confidently in no time. Safe travels and happy learning!
The New, Fun, and Faster Way to Learn Japanese
Sakuraspeak is your AI-powered conversational partner. It's one of the most efficient ways to become fluent at speaking Japanese. Practise beginner-friendly conversations without pressure - you can make mistakes freely and get instant feedback.
