About Sumi

Sumi is a kanji app for Android, with iPhone coming soon. It puts one Japanese character on your Home Screen and changes it through the day, and a two-minute review brings each kanji back just before you would forget it. Sumi is made by a small independent team and published by Brightsmilesolutions Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales.

How we write lessons

Each lesson starts from one of our short videos. We draft the article with the help of AI, then check every reading, meaning and example word against two open dictionaries, JMdict and KANJIDIC2, and fix anything that doesn't match.

Kanji stories come in two kinds, and we say which is which. Some explain where a character really came from, as far as scholars agree. Others are memory aids: a picture that helps you remember the kanji, even if it isn't its true history. When the history is uncertain, we say so.

Found a mistake? Email brightsmilesolutionssupport@gmail.com and we'll correct it, and update the date at the top of the lesson.

About the JLPT levels

The Japanese-Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) hasn't published official kanji lists since 2010. The levels we show, N5 (easiest) to N1, follow the lists most learners and textbooks use, so treat them as a guide.

Data and licences

• Readings and meanings: KANJIDIC2 and JMdict, © the Electronic Dictionary Research and Development Group, used under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence.
• Stroke order diagrams: KanjiVG, © Ulrich Apel, used under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 licence. The diagrams on this site are adapted from it and shared under the same licence.
• Heading font: Shippori Mincho, under the SIL Open Font License.

Contact

Email brightsmilesolutionssupport@gmail.com. For help with the app, include the Support ID from Settings › About in Sumi.

Brightsmilesolutions Ltd · Company number 15838955 · Registered in England and Wales · Registered office: 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9JQ, United Kingdom.