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)

1. Start from where learners actually get stuck: for each grammar point, first ask where learners most easily trip up — the real sticking points and false-friend traps, not just the textbook rules — and explain to those.
2. Feel first, connection rules second: the connection rules matter, but making you *feel* what the grammar does first is what makes it stick.
3. Always show a ‘can't use it here' case: teaching only where it works isn't enough — each pattern points out at least one place it *can't* be used or would sound off.
4. Judge near-synonyms by actual substitutability: when distinguishing similar patterns, use a real substitution test (does it sound natural swapped in?), not just the Chinese translation.
5. Don't treat JLPT level as absolute difficulty: levels are an exam-prep reference, not absolute language difficulty; marking register (written/spoken) and context is more useful.
6. Separate ‘textbook Japanese' from ‘modern speech': clearly flag what is written/formal vs. everyday spoken, so you don't learn it and then use it in the wrong setting.
7. Correct errors openly: mistakes reported by readers or found by us 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 now open the same full library to English speakers worldwide, with the interface available in further languages.

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.
• 61 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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