Kotowa

Kotowa is a reader for people learning Japanese. Open a pack of Japanese text, comic pages or video subtitles and read it one line at a time.

Every line shows: - the Japanese with furigana, which you can turn off - a translation underneath, and a second language when the pack has one - a word-by-word breakdown. Tap a word for its reading, meaning and the full dictionary entry from JMdict

Packs can also carry comic pages, and subtitles that follow a video you link from the Files app.

These packs come with the app: - 蜘蛛の糸, a short story by 芥川龍之介 (public domain, from Aozora Bunko) - ブラックジャックによろしく by 佐藤秀峰, a comic, used under the author's free-use terms - 新種のSCPが怖すぎる件 by Kizuna AI (CC BY-SA 3.0), with Japanese audio. The pack holds the lines; you download the video from our site and link it from Files. - Hello, Kotowa, a short set of greetings to try the reader on

Make your own packs. A pack is a folder or a zip. Add it from the Files app or from an address. The guide at kotowa.gellyfish.dev explains the format, and an AI assistant can follow it to turn a text, a subtitle file or a script into a pack. Packs you add are for your own use; you are responsible for having the right to use what is in them.

Private by design. No account, no ads, no analytics. Your packs, progress and settings stay on your device and nothing is sent to us.

Kotowa works offline once a pack is on your device. Dictionary data: JMdict, © the Electronic Dictionary Research and Development Group, used under its licence.

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