Hey Product Hunt! 👋

I'm excited to share KotobaHoshi (ことば星), a free Japanese vocabulary learning app I've been building.

🌸 Why I built it

I'm learning Japanese myself, and I've always felt that memorizing vocabulary from long lists of words and translations can get repetitive.

I wanted something more visual — a way to connect each Japanese word with an image, hear how it's pronounced, and see how it's actually used in a sentence.

So I built KotobaHoshi around one simple idea:

One word. One illustration. Learn it, remember it, use it.

✨ What's inside

7,800+ Japanese words covering JLPT N5–N1
A unique watercolor-style illustration for every word
Pronunciation audio for words and example sentences
Two example sentences for each word
Japanese, English, and Chinese explanations
Furigana support for Japanese readings
FSRS-based spaced repetition for long-term retention
A personal vocabulary collection

I also wanted the learning experience to feel calm and enjoyable, so I chose a soft Japanese picture-book style rather than a traditional dictionary-like interface.

💚 It's free

KotobaHoshi is completely free to use, and all existing features will remain free.

This is the first public version (v0.1.0), and I'm continuing to improve it as I use it for my own Japanese studies.

💬 I'd love your feedback

If you're learning Japanese, I'd especially love to know:

Do illustrations help you remember new vocabulary?
What's the hardest part of building a consistent vocabulary-learning habit?
What would you like to see improved or added?

You can try it here:
https://kotobahoshi.com/

Thanks for checking it out! 🌟

Forum Threads

p/kotobahoshi

•

2d ago

Can illustrations make Japanese vocabulary easier to remember?

Hi everyone!

I've been building KotobaHoshi ( ), a free Japanese vocabulary learning app inspired by a simple idea:

One word, one illustration.

As someone learning Japanese myself, I wanted to make vocabulary learning more visual, enjoyable, and memorable.

View all

Hey Product Hunt! 👋

I'm excited to share KotobaHoshi (ことば星), a free Japanese vocabulary learning app I've been building.

🌸 Why I built it

I'm learning Japanese myself, and I've always felt that memorizing vocabulary from long lists of words and translations can get repetitive.

I wanted something more visual — a way to connect each Japanese word with an image, hear how it's pronounced, and see how it's actually used in a sentence.

So I built KotobaHoshi around one simple idea:

One word. One illustration. Learn it, remember it, use it.

✨ What's inside

7,800+ Japanese words covering JLPT N5–N1
A unique watercolor-style illustration for every word
Pronunciation audio for words and example sentences
Two example sentences for each word
Japanese, English, and Chinese explanations
Furigana support for Japanese readings
FSRS-based spaced repetition for long-term retention
A personal vocabulary collection

I also wanted the learning experience to feel calm and enjoyable, so I chose a soft Japanese picture-book style rather than a traditional dictionary-like interface.

💚 It's free

KotobaHoshi is completely free to use, and all existing features will remain free.

This is the first public version (v0.1.0), and I'm continuing to improve it as I use it for my own Japanese studies.

💬 I'd love your feedback

If you're learning Japanese, I'd especially love to know:

Do illustrations help you remember new vocabulary?
What's the hardest part of building a consistent vocabulary-learning habit?
What would you like to see improved or added?

You can try it here:
https://kotobahoshi.com/

Thanks for checking it out! 🌟

KotobaHoshi

Learn Japanese vocabulary through illustrations

Learn Japanese vocabulary through illustrations

Forum Threads

Can illustrations make Japanese vocabulary easier to remember?

Forum Threads

Can illustrations make Japanese vocabulary easier to remember?