Illustrated Japanese

Japanese courses told as one drawn story

60 lessons and 98 hand-made scenes, set in one café with one cast. Grammar arrives because a character needs it, and the vocabulary comes back a scene later. The first lesson of every track is readable here without an account.

Seen over your shoulder, the interior of Komorebi House café reveals Ren behind the counter and Aki standing nearby. The room is warmly lit, and they are both looking towards you.

Japanese Foundations

Your first Japanese, told as one story in a small café

16 lessons~3 h32 scenes
Illustration of Komorebi House café: Maya Torres and Aki Mori and Ren Nakamura. Maya adds the learner to the Open Day group chat.

Japanese N5

The whole JLPT N5 syllabus as an illustrated story arc

24 lessons~6 h48 scenes

Side path

Kana Sprints

Short sprints that turn hiragana and katakana into reading

12 lessons

Side path

Grammar Labs

Second-pass labs for the patterns that need one

8 lessons

The order most beginners take

Kana whenever the script slows you down, Foundations for your first sentences, N5 for the exam arc, then N4 material through InputDojo's lists and drills.

  1. Step 1

    Kana Sprints

    Read hiragana and katakana

  2. Step 2

    Foundations

    Your first spoken Japanese

  3. Step 3

    N5

    The full JLPT N5 arc

  4. Step 4

    N4 practice

    Lists, kanji and drills

The cast you'll keep meeting

Aki Mori — short dark bob, round glasses, olive cardigan over a beige apron, notepad and pen.
Aki Mori

Runs Komorebi House. Writes everything down, twice.

Ren Nakamura — messy black hair, mustard hoodie under a brown Komorebi apron, label maker in hand.
Ren Nakamura

Behind the counter, and behind most of the mistakes.

Haru Kondo — longer dark hair tied back, navy shirt and full-length navy apron.
Haru Kondo

The quiet one who fixes what Ren labels.

Fumiko Sato — short dark hair, lavender cardigan and dark skirt, event folder and a cat-shaped stamp.
Fumiko Satō

The regular from the office up the street.

Maya Torres — curly brown hair, denim jacket over green trousers, notebook and pen.
Maya Torres

Student, part-timer, permanently one train late.

Mugi — a long-haired grey-and-cream cat with a round collar tag, usually unimpressed.
Mugi

The café cat. Sits on whatever you need.

Every lesson

Read the first lesson, then keep going

Previews are free and need no account. A free account opens the interactive lessons, the review system and the rest of the tracks.