Available now · iPhone · iPad · Android

Want to read Japanese but don't know where to start?

Start here. Hiragana is the first 46 characters — the foundation the rest of Japanese sits on. About two weeks. Free. No account.

Try it now →

8 SCREENS Drag, scroll, or swipe →

SimplyHiragana — read Japanese, start here. 46 characters and real words.

All 46 hiragana characters — the full set you'll learn.

Real example words built from the hiragana you know.

A hiragana flashcard showing い with tap to reveal — recall it before you flip.

Spaced repetition brings each character back right before you'd forget it.

Study your way — sequential, random, weak points, or due review.

Your progress dashboard — daily goal, day streak, and characters learned.

Open the app and tap Start — no account, no login, just kana.

The science

Why this actually sticks.

Most kana apps just hand you a chart. SimplyHiragana is built on how memory actually works — three findings from cognitive science, and the app runs on all three.

RETRIEVAL PRACTICE

Recall beats re-reading.

Trying to remember a character before you flip the card builds far stronger memory than looking it up again. That small moment of effort is where the learning happens.

Karpicke & Roediger, 2008

SPACED REPETITION

Reviewed right before you'd forget.

Characters you find hard come back sooner; the ones you've got come back less often. The app schedules every review for you, so nothing quietly slips away.

Cepeda et al., 2006

THE FORGETTING CURVE

Forgetting is normal — we plan for it.

We've known since 1885 that new memories fade fast without review. Spacing your practice flattens that curve, so all 46 characters actually stay learned.

Ebbinghaus, 1885

★★★★★

"The SimplyHiragana app has our younger students completely hooked. Simple and fun, which makes learning really engaging."

— Akkywish · Teacher · App Store Review

Founder's note

Why hiragana is free.

When I built SimplyKanji, I realized something: most people who want to learn kanji can't read hiragana yet. And every app that tries to teach both at once ends up overwhelming beginners before they've even started. Hiragana should be its own thing — a clear, simple first step. And it should be free, because charging someone to start learning Japanese is wrong.

SimplyHiragana exists so you can get the foundation right before anything else. Forty-six characters, about two weeks, zero cost. After that, the rest of Japanese opens up.

How it works