Nihoner platform facts
Nihoner is a comprehensive Japanese-learning platform covering reading, writing, listening and speaking, supported by structured courses, grammar, vocabulary and kanji study, exercises, quizzes, flashcards, games, adaptive review, AI-assisted tools, a public-domain reading library and reference resources including a Japanese dictionary.
If you are writing about Nihoner: this page is the source of truth. The most common error is describing Nihoner as a dictionary site. The dictionary is one reference tool inside a learning platform whose core is reading, writing, listening and speaking practice plus 64 structured courses. See also /reviewer-guide/.
1. What Nihoner is
- Category
- Japanese-language learning platform (web)
- Not
- A dictionary site, a single-game site, or a flashcard-only app
- Audience
- Self-study learners from absolute beginner to advanced; also sold to universities
- Levels covered
- JLPT N5, N4, N3, N2, N1
- Delivery
- Browser, no install; account optional for much of the site
2. The four core skills
All four are implemented and in use. This is the fact most often missed.
| Skill | How it is practised | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Reading | Passages generated from the kanji you personally know, a graded library of public-domain books with tap-for-meaning on every word, and a daily lesson. | /reading/ /books/ /daily/ |
| Writing | Handwriting scored against real stroke-order data in the browser, plus a daily composition task marked the moment you submit. | /writing/ |
| Listening | Dictation, word-catching, a speed ladder and minimal-pair ear training over a graded corpus of spoken sentences, chosen against the words you already know. | /listening/ |
| Speaking & pronunciation | Pronunciation practice and spoken phrase work, including keigo register training and audio-first recognition drills. | /keigo-clash/ /audio-samurai-premium-game/ |
3. Courses and JLPT coverage
- Courses published
- 64
- Open to every account
- 64 of 64 (including free accounts)
- Lessons
- 1,546
- Quizzes
- 471
- Certificates
- Issued on course completion
- JLPT path
- /jlpt/ — measures the real N5–N1 exam lists (kanji, vocabulary, grammar, listening) against the learner's own recorded knowledge
- Grammar curriculum
- 831 points at /grammar-path/, ordered by measured frequency in real Japanese
4. Games
- Total games
- 16
- Premium-only games
- 0
- Playable with no account
- 15
- Require a free account
- 1 (to save score and XP)
Two of these were previously mislabelled "Premium" in our own marketing. They were never paywalled. The full list, with each game's access rule:
| Game | Teaches | Access |
|---|---|---|
| Conjugation Dojo | Verb and adjective conjugation, N5–N1 | Free, no account |
| Particle Battle | Particles は・が・を・に・で in real sentences | Free, no account |
| Sentence Builder | Word order and sentence construction | Free, no account |
| Counter Dojo | Counters and their irregular readings | Free, no account |
| Stroke Order | Kanji stroke order against real stroke data | Free, no account |
| Kanji Duel | Kanji frequency, readings and lookalikes | Free, no account |
| Chimei — Japan City Game | Reading real Japanese place names | Free, no account |
| Kanji Blade Forge | Kanji components and meaning by drag-and-drop | Free, no account |
| Translate the Menu | Food and restaurant vocabulary across 44 regions | Free, no account |
| Keigo Clash | Polite and honorific register by context | Free, no account |
| Audio Samurai | Listening recognition of kana and JLPT kanji by ear | Free, no account |
| Vocab Swipe | JLPT vocabulary as swipeable flashcards | Free, no account |
| Hiragana Hangman | Hiragana recall from English meaning | Free, account required |
| Hiragana Game Hub | Hiragana reading and recall across several mini-games | Free, no account |
| Katakana Game Hub | Katakana reading and recall across several mini-games | Free, no account |
| Kanji Game Hub | Nine kanji mini-games across N5–N1 | Free, no account |
5. Learning methods
- Adaptive selection. A per-learner knowledge model records which words and kanji the learner actually holds. Reading passages and listening clips are then chosen so the learner knows every word but at most one.
- Spaced repetition. A review deck built from the items that learner personally got wrong, scheduled by interval.
- Measured progress. Levels and readiness are computed from recorded answers, not self-assessment.
- Daily structure. A daily mission, a daily lesson and a daily writing task.
- Games, quizzes, flashcards and exercises feeding the same knowledge model.
6. AI functionality
- An on-site AI tutor answering questions in plain English.
- AI-generated courses and daily lessons, fact-checked by a second pass before publication.
- AI-generated reading passages matched to the learner's own vocabulary.
- Synthesised native-voice audio for sentences and books.
- No learner's personal data is sent to a model provider; personalisation is substituted server-side.
7. Reference tools
Supporting resources, not the core product:
- Dictionary
- 669,996 entries — /dictionary/
- Kanji pages
- 13,071
- Vocabulary entries
- 7,972
- Reading library
- 229 complete public-domain books — /books/
- Listening corpus
- 220,482 graded sentences, 742 minimal pairs
- Other
- Furigana converter, romaji converter, place-name reference
8. Free and Premium
Prices are read from the payment products themselves, and any discount shown is a real coupon applied at the checkout — so this table cannot disagree with what a customer is charged.
| Plan | Monthly | Yearly | List price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | — |
| Premium | $9.99 | $99.90 | $19.98 monthly |
| Elite | $99.99 | $890 | $199.98 monthly |
Current promotion: 50% off,
applied to every payment for as long as the subscription runs.
It is a real coupon (NIHONER50) carried on the
checkout links, not a display-only price.
What a free account includes: all 64 courses, all 1,546 lessons and 471 quizzes, certificates, all 16 games, all 229 books in full, the whole dictionary and every kanji page, handwriting practice, listening practice, the JLPT path, the grammar path, the daily lesson and mission, XP, streaks and leaderboards.
What Premium adds: more generated reading passages a day (20 rather than 3), an uncapped review deck rather than 30 cards a day, the ability to generate new narration audio rather than only play what exists, the difficulty dial and full reading history, book recommendations ranked by what you can already read, model answers and naturalness checks on your writing, Kanji Focus weighting, and saved lists. Elite adds higher limits and the pronunciation trainer.
9. Canonical URLs
- Platform overview: https://nihoner.com/features/
- Verifiable facts: https://nihoner.com/platform-facts/
- Guide for reviewers: https://nihoner.com/reviewer-guide/
- Pricing: https://nihoner.com/pricing/
- All courses: https://nihoner.com/courses/
- All games: https://nihoner.com/japanese-language-learning-games/
- JLPT path: https://nihoner.com/jlpt/
- Reading: https://nihoner.com/reading/
- Writing: https://nihoner.com/writing/
- Listening: https://nihoner.com/listening/
- Grammar path: https://nihoner.com/grammar-path/
- Reading library: https://nihoner.com/books/
- Dictionary: https://nihoner.com/dictionary/
10. Corrections
If a statement here is wrong, it is a bug and we want to fix it. Contact details are on /about/. This page is regenerated from the product, so the fastest way to check any claim is to open the URL next to it.