About InkDojo

InkDojo is a kanji handwriting app for people learning Japanese. You trace each character stroke by stroke on your phone or tablet, and the app checks every stroke as you draw it — where it starts, where it ends, its shape and its length — so you learn the stroke order the way it is actually written, not just what the finished character looks like.

The model strokes are drawn with real brush endings: the stops (tome), hooks (hane) and sweeps (harai) that make handwriting look Japanese. The animations on this website come from the same drawing engine as the app.

Who makes it

InkDojo is made by Kotonoa, a small independent studio in Japan. Our first app, Kotonoa Kanji, teaches the 1,026 kanji of the Japanese elementary-school curriculum to children in Japan. InkDojo brings the same tracing engine to adult learners, in English, organised by JLPT level.

What is free

All 103 JLPT N5 kanji are free, with no account and no time limit. JLPT N4 (181 kanji) is available with a Premium subscription. Your learning data stays on your device; nothing is uploaded or synced.

Data sources

Kanji shapes and stroke order come from KanjiVG by Ulrich Apel (CC BY-SA 3.0). Meanings, readings and level membership come from KANJIDIC2, and example-word translations from JMdict/EDICT, both by the Electronic Dictionary Research and Development Group (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0), used under the EDRDG licence. Full credits are in the app under Settings → Credits & Licenses.

About JLPT levels

InkDojo is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the Japan Foundation, JEES, or any official JLPT administering organization. JLPT is a trademark of its respective owner. No official kanji list is published for the current N1–N5 levels; the groupings in the app and on this site follow the pre-2010 test levels and the mapping commonly used by learners, so treat them as a study guide rather than an official list.

Get in touch

Questions, bug reports and suggestions are welcome — see the Contact page.

Try it on your phone. All JLPT N5 kanji are free — every stroke checked as you trace.