Kanji Time

Turn every glance at the clock into a Japanese lesson.

Kanji Time is a beautiful bedside and desktop clock designed to help you learn Japanese naturally — one look at a time. The time, date, and day of the week are displayed in kanji with phonetic readings so you always know what you're looking at.

Tell time in Japanese
The time displays in Japanese format — 午前 (gozen) for AM and 午後 (gogo) for PM. Tap the time to hear it spoken aloud in natural Japanese.

Learn the date in kanji
See today's date as 4月13日（月曜日） with phonetic readings in romaji or hiragana beneath each line. Hide phonetics once you've learned to read on your own. Tap the date to hear it spoken.

13 rotating content panels — you choose
Pick any two to display on your clock face. Long press any card to expand to a full reading view with larger text. Panels include:

• Kana cards — hiragana and katakana with romaji, example words, and English meanings
• Proverbs — a new ことわざ (kotowaza) every day in kanji, kana, romaji, and English
• Cinema quotes — from 黒澤明 (Kurosawa), 宮崎駿 (Miyazaki), 小津安二郎 (Ozu), and more
• Baseball quotes — from 鈴木一朗 (Ichiro), 大谷翔平 (Ohtani), 王貞治 (Sadaharu Oh), and more
• Baseball terms, teams & stadiums — all 12 NPB teams and every home ground
• Sushi vocabulary — 30 dishes with kana, romaji, and cultural notes
• Zen quotes — from 道元 (Dōgen), 白隠 (Hakuin), 鈴木俊隆 (Shunryu Suzuki), and more
• Music quotes — from 坂本龍一 (Sakamoto), 久石譲 (Hisaishi), 宇多田ヒカル (Utada), and more
• Prefectures — all 47 都道府県 with capitals, kana, romaji, and regional highlights
• Temples & shrines — 26 sacred sites from Kinkaku-ji to Itsukushima
• Japanese cars — from kei classics (Jimny, N-BOX) to sports legends (GT-R, RX-7, Supra)

Speak and listen
Tap any card to hear it read aloud. Japanese content uses a natural Japanese voice, followed by the English translation — or switch English off in Settings for full Japanese immersion. Tip: download enhanced voices in iOS Settings for even more natural speech — Kanji Time automatically uses the best installed voice.

World clock
Add a second time zone and see the city name in Japanese — 大阪 (Osaka), ロンドン (London), ニューヨーク (New York) — alongside local time.

Designed for the bedside table and desktop
The screen stays on while active, with adjustable night dimming for sleep. Choose from five dark themes — Midnight, Charcoal, Navy, Forest, and Burgundy — all built around the amber LED aesthetic of classic Japanese digital clocks.

No ads. No account required. Completely free. Works offline.