RubiPon adds kana reading hints right onto the page you're viewing —
a browser extension for Safari and Chrome.
難しい漢字も、今日から読める。
↓ Press the button to see RubiPon in action
News sites, encyclopedias, official notices — the page you're already reading becomes readable.
Just press "Show furigana" from the toolbar button. You can also turn on automatic display for every page.
Choose between the fast system dictionary (Safari), the well-rounded IPA dictionary, and the large-vocabulary Sudachi dictionary.
Dates and counter words like 1月1日, 3階 and 2泊3日 are tricky to read. Over 600 built-in correction rules fix them automatically.
Register names and technical terms yourself, so they always get the reading you want.
Adjust ruby size and line spacing with sliders. RubiPon remembers your settings per site (up to 100 sites).
All reading analysis happens locally. Nothing you browse is ever sent to any server.
Choose which script takes the leading role, to match the reader's level.
東京タワーに行きました。
Small furigana above the kanji — the familiar layout you know from books.
東京タワーに行きました。
Hiragana takes the lead with small kanji above — children who haven't learned kanji yet can read the page.
No complicated setup.
Safari: Settings > Apps > Safari > Extensions, then turn on RubiPon.
Chrome: just add it from the Web Store.
News, encyclopedias, school newsletters… open any page you want to read, as usual.
One tap on the RubiPon toolbar button, and kanji on the page get their readings. It can also turn on automatically.
A closer look at why you can trust RubiPon.
RubiPon uses morphological analysis — splitting Japanese text into words and estimating their readings. The dictionaries and the analyzer are all bundled inside the extension, so the content of the pages you read, their URLs, and anything you type are never sent to any server. There are no analytics and no ads. It's safe on a child's device or a school device.
Japanese readings are full of pitfalls — 1月1日, 3階, 2泊3日 can each be read several ways. On top of morphological analysis, RubiPon applies over 600 correction rules for dates, counter words and idiomatic readings. Mistakes still happen occasionally; when a word matters to you, add it to your personal dictionary and it will always be read your way.
kuromoji.js (IPA dictionary) / Sudachi (WASM build with the Works Applications dictionary) / Apple's language framework (system dictionary on Safari)<ruby> element — a web standard, designed to leave page layout intactRubiPon is developed from an educator's perspective, to support everyone who stumbles on kanji and still wants to read. Development notes and technical documentation are public on GitHub. Bug reports and reading-correction requests are welcome.
Yes, completely. No in-app purchases and no ads.
It works on most web pages containing Japanese text, and keeps up with dynamically updating pages (social feeds, live blogs). Text rendered as images can't be annotated.
Occasionally, yes — readings are generated automatically. Error-prone patterns like dates and counter words are fixed by built-in correction rules, and you can pin the reading of any word with the personal dictionary.
Yes. There are no ads, no purchases, and nothing is ever sent off the device — all analysis is local.
Yes. Switch the reading type to romaji in settings — handy for beginning learners of Japanese.