Mugi

Your Japanese Study Buddy

Mugi helps you get fluent the right way! Learn by watching videos, immersing yourself in real-life Japanese, and enjoying the content that you already love.

Download on the App StoreGet it on Google Play

Traveling at home

T山TVN2
冬ふゆの布団ふとん…休日きゅうじつのベッド…

A winter futon... a bed on a holiday...

朝活あさかつや旅行りょこう、優雅ゆうがな休日きゅうじつって憧れるあこがれる。

I long for morning activities, travel, and elegant holidays.

でも、

But,

休日きゅうじつにそんな動けうごけない。

I can't move much on holidays.

と、いうことで「家いえで」旅行りょこうしませんか？

So, how about traveling 'at home'?

Play the video, and tap words to look them up.

Learn Japanese the fun and fast way

Whether you're studying for fun or preparing for a trip to Japan, learning the language shouldn't feel like a chore. Mugi is here to help you...

Learn from real Japanese

A curated library of native videos, matched to your level. No more guessing what's too easy or way too hard.

Always know what to study next

A spaced-review system tells you exactly what to review and when, so nothing gets forgotten.

Never get stuck

Instant explanations for tricky words and sentences. No more breaking your flow to go look things up.

About Us

Alex and Mugi

Hi! I'm Alex, the developer of Mugi. I'm from the US and I started learning Japanese when I was 18. And after a few years of going to classes and using textbooks, I got really frustrated because I still couldn't understand native speakers, and could barely keep a conversation going. That's what made me switch to immersion.

It might sound too good to be true, but I basically binge-watched Japanese movies, anime, and YouTube videos all day, and that's what ended up getting me fluent! And it turns out learning Japanese was one of the best decisions I ever made. It was a ton of fun, and it even inspired me to move to Japan, where I still live now.

I built this app using everything I learned from all those years studying Japanese. I hope it'll help you a ton, and I hope you'll enjoy the journey as much as I did ☺️

Mugi the dog

Say hi to Mugi 🐾

This is Mugi, the real-life one! She's my boss, and she's also the inspiration for the app's name and mascot. She's been a very loyal companion during long study sessions, late nights coding, and everything else.

See more about us

FAQ

01What does it mean to learn through immersion?

Immersion just means learning by listening to a lot of real, natural Japanese (not textbook dialogues!) and actively looking up things you don't understand. Studies have consistently shown that it's much more effective than pure textbook study.

02Couldn't I just do that with YouTube alone?

Honestly... yes! You can get pretty far with YouTube alone, and that's how Alex (the developer) learned Japanese himself. It can be frustrating though as it's hard to find content matching your level, and it's time-consuming to look up words one-by-one. Mugi was designed to make that process way easier so you can focus more of your time and energy on actually learning.

03Do I need to already know Japanese to start?

Nope! We do recommend learning hiragana and katakana first (which can be done in a week) but it's not strictly necessary. Mugi is made to help whether you're an absolute beginner or if you've been studying for years. Content is available for all levels so you can just pick whatever is right for you.

04How is this different from Duolingo or Anki?

Duolingo and Anki are fine for drilling vocab and grammar, and work well as supplements. But they don't provide nearly enough listening practice, which is by far the most important thing if you're trying to become fluent in conversation.