About Nihongo to Japan

Nihongo to Japan is a free Japanese learning platform built to help anyone study Japanese, prepare for the JLPT, and explore authentic travel across Japan — with no account, no paywall, and no email wall, ever.

About the Author

This site is planned and edited by NTJ Kuma, the founder of Nihongo to Japan. A graduate of the Department of Applied Japanese at National Kaohsiung First University of Science and Technology, a lifelong learner of Japanese and lover of Japanese culture, NTJ Kuma has traveled to Japan 50+ times — from city public transit and suburban day trips to self-drive road journeys deep into the countryside.

Graduate, Dept. of Applied Japanese, National Kaohsiung First University of Science and Technology
Long-time Japanese learner and lover of Japanese culture
50+ trips to Japan (city transit, suburban, and self-drive road travel)
Founder of Nihongo to Japan · content planning and editing

Editorial process: content is planned and edited by NTJ Kuma; the data and site are maintained by the Nihongo to Japan editorial team. See our Editorial Policy and Corrections.

NTJ's Content Principles (how I write the grammar)

Start from where learners actually get stuck: first ask where learners most easily trip up — the real sticking points and false-friend traps, not just textbook rules — then explain to those.
Feel first, connection rules second: making you feel what the grammar does first is what makes it stick.
Always show a 'can't use it here' case: each pattern points out at least one place it can't be used or would sound off.
Judge near-synonyms by actual substitutability: use a real substitution test, not just the translation.
Don't treat JLPT level as absolute difficulty: marking register (written/spoken) and context is more useful.
Separate 'textbook Japanese' from 'modern speech': clearly flag written/formal vs. everyday spoken.
Correct errors openly: reported or self-found mistakes are logged publicly on the Corrections page.

Our Mission

Quality Japanese education is often locked behind expensive courses and subscriptions. We believe a learner's budget should never decide whether they can study a language. Everything on Nihongo to Japan is, and will remain, completely free and open — no sign-up, no credit card, no ads gating the content. We started by serving Traditional-Chinese-speaking learners and are now opening the same full library to English speakers worldwide.

What We Offer

655 grammar articles: Full JLPT N5–N1 coverage, each with usage notes, example sentences, and interactive practice questions.
10,000+ JLPT practice questions: Drill vocabulary, grammar, and sentence patterns from N5 to N1 in real time, with instant explanations.
134 self-study lessons: A structured path from hiragana basics all the way to N1 grammar — no prior knowledge required.
Verb conjugation trainer: Practice godan, ichidan, and irregular conjugations with an interactive drill.
59 travel guides: First-hand travel writing from Hokkaido and Kyoto to Wakayama, pairing real trips with the Japanese you need to use there.
Research & Data: publicly accessible aggregate datasets built from anonymous answers on this site, with methodology, sample sizes, limitations and citation formats; JSON and CSV downloads.

Recognized by Educators & Libraries

Nihongo to Japan is used and recommended as a Japanese-learning resource by academic institutions, including the Dept. of Applied Japanese at National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology (NKUST) and Vanderbilt University Library. Librarians, teachers, and course designers are welcome to link to, cite, and share our materials freely — see our resource page for educators and libraries.

Our Philosophy

We believe the best way to learn Japanese is to use it — to travel with it, to live with it. Nihongo to Japan blends language learning with real-world travel so your Japanese always has a place to go. Follow us on Instagram @nihongotojapan — a community of 24,000+ learners and counting.

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