Niho vs Other Ways to Read Japanese Books
Hiro · Game Designer @ StudyXNihoComparison
This post is for learners of Japanese who can read kana, know some kanji, and want to start reading more than textbook passages. At that point there are several reasonable ways to go, and Niho is only one of them. Below I set it beside four others, say what each does well, and say plainly where I think another option is the better choice. Prices and plans are as of September 2026.
What Niho Is
Niho is a free Japanese reader for iPhone and iPad. The Aozora Bunko catalogue, more than 17,000 works that are out of copyright in Japan, ships inside the app. You download a book, and from then on the text, the dictionary, your word book and the quizzes work without a connection. There are no ads, no in-app purchases and no account.
The dictionary is JMdict with KANJIDIC2, bundled. Long-press a word, tap Look up, and the entry appears over the page with the JLPT level and a kanji breakdown. Conjugated forms are traced back to the dictionary form. Every lookup is saved to a word book with the sentence it came from, and a five-box Leitner quiz brings it back. Furigana appears where the source edition printed it. The text is laid out horizontally, not vertically as the books were printed.
Aozora Bunko in a Browser, with a Pop-up Dictionary
Aozora Bunko itself is free and readable in any browser, in XHTML or plain text. It is the same library Niho draws from. Pair it with a pop-up dictionary such as Yomitan, a free browser extension for Chrome, Firefox and Edge that also works on Android, and you get instant lookups on any Japanese web page, with audio and a link to Anki for flashcards.
What this does well: it is free, it is flexible, and it is not limited to Aozora Bunko. News sites, blogs and anything else in a browser become readable in the same way. If you already use Anki, the flashcard side is probably better than anything a single app gives you, because you control it completely.
Where it differs: it is a set of tools you put together yourself, and on an iPhone the browser extension route is not the same. Niho is one app that already has the library, the dictionary and the review in one place, and works on a train with no signal.
Free Graded Readers
NPO Tadoku publishes free graded readers for learners of Japanese, from a starter level up to level 5. You can read them online or download PDFs, many come with narrated audio, and many carry furigana.
What this does well: the texts are written for learners and graded by level, so the first book can be very easy indeed. For someone who has only just finished kana, this is a gentler start than any Aozora Bunko text, including the shortest folk tale. The audio is a real person reading, not a system voice.
Where it differs: graded readers are written for learners, while Aozora Bunko books were written for Japanese readers. There is no built-in dictionary or word review in a PDF. I see graded readers and Niho as steps in a sequence rather than rivals. Graded readers first, then the Start here shelf in Niho.
Learner Reading Services
There are reading services built entirely for learners of Japanese. Satori Reader is a well-known one: stories written for learners, furigana you can set to your level, audio, grammar notes and integrated flashcards, on the web and in a mobile app. It is subscription-based.
What this does well: the explanations. A learner service can tell you why a sentence is built the way it is, and the texts are made to be learned from. Niho does not explain grammar. It shows the steps from a conjugated form back to the dictionary form, and that is as far as it goes.
Where it differs: the texts are written for learners, and the service is paid. Niho is free, and the books are the real ones, from Sōseki and Akutagawa to folk tales. If you want explanations, the paid service gives you something Niho does not. If you want to read published Japanese books, Niho gives you that library without a subscription.
A Paper Book and a Dictionary
The oldest method still works. Buy or borrow a Japanese book, keep a dictionary or a dictionary app beside it, and write words in a notebook.
What this does well: a paper book is pleasant to read, has no screen, and is printed vertically as the author intended. Writing a word by hand may help you remember it. Many modern books for children carry furigana on most kanji.
Where it differs: every lookup takes you out of the page, and Japanese makes this harder than most languages, because you have to identify a word you cannot yet read before you can look it up. Niho’s lookup starts from a rough selection, tries every run of characters from there, and shows the longest dictionary word first. The notebook also does not quiz you.
Side by Side
| Niho | Aozora Bunko + Yomitan | Free graded readers (Tadoku) | Satori Reader | Paper book + dictionary | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texts | Aozora Bunko books | Aozora Bunko and any web page | Written for learners | Written for learners | Any book you get |
| Cost | Free | Free | Free | Subscription | Varies |
| Built-in dictionary | Yes, offline | Yes, in the browser | No | Yes | No |
| Review of saved words | Leitner quizzes | Through Anki | No | Flashcards | Your own notebook |
| Audio | System voice reads aloud | Yes | Many titles narrated | Yes | No |
| Platform | iPhone, iPad | Desktop browsers, Android | Browser, PDF | Web, mobile app | Paper |
When Another Option Is the Better Choice
If you cannot yet read hiragana comfortably, start with graded readers or a textbook. Niho does not teach kana or basic grammar, and the first Aozora Bunko book will be too steep.
If you want grammar explained sentence by sentence, a learner service like Satori Reader is built for that, and Niho is not.
If you read mostly on a computer, or you already have an Anki routine you like, Yomitan in a browser is a strong setup and costs nothing.
If vertical text matters to you, a paper book or an e-book in vertical layout is the only option on this list that gives it. I think this matters more for readers of literature than for learners, but it is a real difference.
If the dictionary definitions need to be in a language other than English, note that Niho’s definitions come from JMdict in English. The Translate button can send a word to Google Translate, which needs a connection.
Where Niho Fits
Niho fits the learner who has finished the textbook and graded readers and wants whole books written for Japanese readers, with a dictionary that does not take them off the page, all on a phone and free. That is a specific stage, and I think a common one.
The Niho page has the full feature list. To try it, the getting started guide walks through the first evening, the tips cover daily reading, and who Niho is for describes the readers it suits. All related posts are under the Niho tag.
