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Learn Japanese with YouTube

Clickable Japanese captions, and a level on every thumbnail.

Last updated 30 October 2026

The short answer: watch Japanese YouTube videos with Japanese captions, click the words you hear, and review them later. Ikkimi does this in Chrome: it switches YouTube to the Japanese captions, makes each word clickable with kana, romaji and its meaning, and badges every thumbnail with its level from N5 to N1.

The Ikkimi web app and Chrome extension come on one plan. The iPhone app is coming soon.

On your computer

  1. Open a Japanese video

    Ikkimi asks the player for the Japanese captions (written by the channel, or YouTube’s automatic ones) and shows its own line you can click. The English line underneath comes from YouTube’s English captions or its translation.

  2. See levels while you browse

    Each thumbnail on the home page, in search, on channels and beside the video gets a badge: JP subs, JP subs auto, or No JP subs, and a level from N5 to N1.

  3. Click, keep, review

    Click a word to pause and see it in kana and romaji. Keep it, and it comes back as a flashcard with the moment it came from.

Questions

Does YouTube have Japanese subtitles?

Many Japanese videos have Japanese captions, written by the channel or made automatically by YouTube. Ikkimi switches the player to the Japanese track by itself and makes it clickable.

How do I find videos at my level?

While you browse YouTube with the Ikkimi extension, each thumbnail gets a small badge: whether the video has Japanese captions, and about how hard its Japanese is, from N5 to N1. The Ikkimi library also lists Japanese YouTube channels by level.

Does it work on my phone?

Not for watching. The clickable line on YouTube needs the Chrome extension on a computer. The website works in a phone’s browser for reviewing your words.

Is YouTube included?

Yes. The clickable line on YouTube is part of the one Ikkimi plan, with Crunchyroll and Netflix.

Tonight’s episode is a lesson.

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