KanjiLens

KanjiLens is a Chrome extension designed to help people learn Japanese through immersion. It works by letting users hover their cursor over any Japanese text on a webpage—whether it's a news article, blog post, or online manga—to instantly see the reading (furigana) and English meaning of each kanji character. This removes the need to constantly switch tabs to a dictionary, making the reading process smoother and more natural. The tool also includes optical character recognition (OCR) that can extract and translate text directly from images, which is particularly useful for reading manga where text is embedded in panels.

What sets KanjiLens apart is its integrated learning system. When you encounter a new word, you can save it directly to a personal flashcard deck within the extension. The deck uses a spaced repetition system (SRS), which schedules reviews at optimal intervals to help with long-term memorization. You can also create custom mnemonics for tricky characters and adjust settings—like which dictionary to use or whether to show readings—on a site-by-site basis. This means you can have a detailed setup for a study site and a simpler one for casual browsing.

The tool is most helpful for intermediate learners who are trying to move from textbook study to reading real Japanese material. It turns any Japanese website into an interactive textbook. If you've ever wanted to read a raw manga chapter or a Japanese novel online but got bogged down looking up every third word, KanjiLens cuts that friction significantly. It's for learners who believe the best way to master a language is to use it, and who want a digital assistant that makes that possible without constant interruption.