ONE STORY A DAY · JAPANESE

Read Japanesebefore yourcoffee cools.

Patapa gives you one short story every morning, written for your JLPT level. Read it, answer five questions, learn the words that came up. Three minutes, then you're done.

Join the waitlistSee today's story
iPhone first · N5 through N1 · free while in beta
14
320 XP
A
Hi, Angela!
It's raining today. In the story too. I got soaked.
TODAY'S STORY3 min · N5
雨あめの日ひの傘かさ
Yuki forgets her umbrella. Someone offers half of theirs.
Read story
N5
13 of 40 stories read
›
読
Read
語
Words
字
Kanji
私
Me
How it works

Three minutes, three steps

1
Read the story

Around 150 characters of real Japanese, written for your level. Furigana on by default. Tap any word you don't know and its meaning appears without leaving the page.

2
Answer five questions

Questions in English, answers in Japanese. Get one wrong and nothing is taken away: the right answer appears next to yours, and Patapa quotes the sentence it came from.

3
Keep the words

New words go into your own list, and one kanji from the story becomes the kanji of the day. Everything you learn came from something you actually read.

Real Japanese, right away

No word lists. A story from day one.

Most apps start you on isolated vocabulary and hope sentences come later. Patapa starts with the sentence. Even at N5 you read something with a beginning and an end, and the grammar arrives in the shape you'll actually meet it.

  • Furigana, kanji only, or romaji — switch mid-sentence.
  • Every reader on your level gets the same story, the same day.
  • Nothing to catch up on. Miss a day and today's story is still today's.
TODAY · N5雨の日の傘
今日きょうは 朝あさから 雨あめが 降ふって いた。ユキは 傘かさを わすれた。
傘
kasa · かさ
umbrella
Levels

All the way from N5 to N1

Patapa follows the JLPT ladder. Your level decides the story you get, and 40 stories move you to the next one. Already read some Japanese? Take the placement test and start where you belong.

N5
800 words
100 kanji
Hiragana and katakana are enough to begin.
N4
1500 words
300 kanji
Longer stories, past and casual forms.
N3
3750 words
650 kanji
Everyday news and conversation.
N2
6000 words
1000 kanji
COMING SOON
N1
10000 words
2000 kanji
COMING SOON
Kuro the yatagarasu, showing the way
Meet Kuro

A three-legged crow who knows the way

In Japanese legend, the yatagarasu is a crow with three legs, sent from the sky to guide the first emperor through unknown country. It didn't fight anything or carry anyone; it flew ahead and showed the way.

Kuro is that crow, a few centuries on. The country he guides you through is a language. He brings the day's story, points at the word you'll trip on, and waits while you read. He never scolds a missed day, and he never carries you. He just knows where the path goes.

This way. Today it's raining in the story. Bring the umbrella word.
More languages

Japanese first. Not last.

The daily-story loop works for any language with something worth reading. New languages arrive one at a time, each with its own stories and its own levels.

More to do

Listening, writing, and reading together.

Audio for every story, a kanji practice pad, and a way to read the same story alongside everyone else on your level are all in the works. Waitlist members hear first.

Tomorrow's story is already written.

Patapa opens on iPhone later this year. Leave your email and you'll get the first story on launch day.

One email on launch day. Nothing else.