About Sakana
Learn Japanese character spellings, readings, and number mappings.
What is Sakana Drill?
Sakana Drill is a clean, minimal, and focused study tool built solely for language learners to speed-practice Japanese characters and vocabulary recall. The core training focuses on Hiragana and Katakana, with optional kanji/kana vocabulary drills, and a dedicated Japanese Cities spelling mode.
It also features a unique Numbers Mode which allows you to practice and translate large Japanese numerals (using traditional 4-digit grouping parameters) between their digit forms and Romaji/Kana readings, as well as a Cities Mode to guess the Romaji spelling of Japanese cities based on historical or cultural clues.
Philosophy
The application enforces quick recall and keyboard entry rather than multiple-choice guessing. By forcing you to write and spell the readings, Sakana Drill builds direct muscle memory for the kana, vocabulary, and numbers.
Developer
Marsa Ariqi
A fellow learner drilling Japanese characters
I built and maintain Sakana Drill because I wanted a fast, keyboard-friendly tool to speed-drill Japanese characters without distracting animations or predatory gamification loops. As a fellow learner, I wanted direct practice, and I hope this helps you build strong recall muscle memory just as it did for me (˶ˆᗜˆ˵).
My Commitment
Sakana Drill is, and will always remain, 100% free and entirely free of advertisements, paid tiers, or hidden subscription models. I am dedicated to actively maintaining and refining this webapp to serve as a high-quality, reliable resource for Japanese language learners worldwide.
If you are wondering how Sakana Drill stays 100% free without ads or paywalls—don't worry! This app is self-hosted on my personal homelab server. Running it costs practically nothing, so it will remain online as long as my power and internet connection are running! (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧
If you encounter any bugs, have feature requests, or want to share general feedback, please submit them through the feedback portal.