How to get Japanese subtitles for anime
On Netflix, Crunchyroll and YouTube, and what to do when a show has none.
Last updated 4 November 2026
The short answer: on Netflix, many Japanese shows have a Japanese subtitle track: choose it under Audio & Subtitles in the player (it varies by country). On Crunchyroll, most anime has no Japanese subtitles, so you need a matching file, usually from Jimaku, a public catalogue. On YouTube, many Japanese videos have Japanese captions, written by the channel or made automatically. Ikkimi, a Chrome extension, handles all three: it finds and times the file on Crunchyroll, switches YouTube to Japanese captions, and makes every word clickable with kana and romaji.
The Ikkimi web app and Chrome extension come on one plan. The iPhone app is coming soon.
How do I turn on Japanese subtitles on Netflix?
Play the show
Start a Japanese show or film on Netflix in your browser.
Open Audio & Subtitles
Click the screen to show the controls, then choose Audio & Subtitles.
Pick Japanese
Choose Japanese (日本語) under Subtitles. If it is not listed, that title has no Japanese track where you are.
With Ikkimi, that Japanese line becomes clickable. If a show has no Japanese track, open the Ikkimi popup, choose Find Japanese subtitles, and search Jimaku or load a file from your computer. More on learning Japanese with Netflix.
Does Crunchyroll have Japanese subtitles?
Rarely. Crunchyroll’s subtitles are mostly in English and other languages, not in Japanese, which makes it hard to learn from even though it has the most anime. There are two ways around it:
- By hand: find the episode on Jimaku, download the file, load it into a subtitle tool, and fix the timing yourself.
- With Ikkimi: play the episode and Ikkimi searches Jimaku for that show, season and episode, loads the file, and lines it up with Crunchyroll’s own subtitle timing, stretch by stretch. If Jimaku lists several shows that could match, it lets you pick.
More on learning Japanese with Crunchyroll.
What is Jimaku?
Jimaku (jimaku.cc, from 字幕, jimaku, “subtitles”) is a public catalogue of Japanese subtitle files for anime and some live-action shows, uploaded by its users. You can search by a show’s name in romaji, English or Japanese, and download one file or several. Many files are timed for a TV or Blu-ray release, so on a streaming version they can start early or late, and drift after each ad break. That is why timing tools matter.
How do I get Japanese captions on YouTube?
Many Japanese videos have Japanese captions. Some are written by the channel; others are made automatically by YouTube, which offers automatic captions in Japanese. Automatic captions can mishear words, so a track the channel wrote is better when there is one. Turn captions on with the CC button and choose Japanese in the player’s settings.
Ikkimi does this for you: it asks the player for the Japanese track, shows its own line you can click, and badges every thumbnail with JP subs, JP subs auto or No JP subs, and a level from N5 to N1. More on learning Japanese with YouTube.
Why watch with Japanese subtitles at all?
With English subtitles your eyes read English and the Japanese goes past. With Japanese subtitles you see the words you hear, so you can look them up and recognise them next time. If you cannot read Japanese yet, a tool that shows each word in kana and romaji bridges the gap. Our guide to learning Japanese with anime explains the method step by step.
How does Ikkimi make the subtitles clickable?
Play an episode
On Crunchyroll, Netflix or YouTube, in Chrome on your computer, on your own account.
The Japanese line appears
On top of the player, in time with the voices, with the English line underneath if you want it.
Click a word
The video pauses. See its reading in kana and romaji, its meaning, its JLPT level and a recording by a native speaker where one exists (never a computer voice; otherwise the line from the show plays again).
Keep it
One click saves it. It comes back as a flashcard on the Ikkimi website, with the scene it came from.
Get it from Ikkimi on the Chrome Web Store. Looking for a show with clear speech to start? See anime by Japanese level.
Questions
Does Crunchyroll have Japanese subtitles?
Rarely. Most Crunchyroll anime only has subtitles in English and other languages. To get Japanese ones, use a matching file from Jimaku’s public catalogue. Ikkimi finds that file for the episode you are watching and lines it up with Crunchyroll’s own subtitle timing by itself.
Where can I download Japanese subtitles for anime?
Jimaku (jimaku.cc) is a public catalogue of Japanese subtitle files for anime, uploaded by its users. You can search it by a show’s name in romaji, English or Japanese. The files are made by other people, not by the studios or streaming services.
Why are my Japanese subtitles out of sync?
A file made for a TV or Blu-ray release is often shifted again after each ad break, so it drifts on a streaming version. Ikkimi moves each stretch of lines onto Crunchyroll’s own timing; in our tests on real episodes this brought a TV-timed file from about 9.5 seconds late to within about 0.2 seconds. You can still nudge it with Z and X while you watch.
Can I see Japanese and English subtitles at the same time?
Yes. Ikkimi shows the Japanese line on top of the player and can show the English line under it. Hide the English as you improve.
Do Japanese subtitles help if I cannot read kana yet?
With Ikkimi, yes: every word in the line shows its reading in kana and romaji when you click it, so you can follow from zero while you learn hiragana and katakana.
Tonight’s episode is a lesson.
Get Ikkimi