# Kanji Duel

> Kanji Duel is a free web game where two players race to read Japanese words. It is a 1v1 kanji reading duel with Elo ratings, AI opponents and a training mode. No ads, no tracking, no sign-up needed.

Play at https://kanji.yldeai.com/. It works in a phone or desktop browser. You start as a guest; saving progress with a username is optional.

## How to play

- A duel has 7 rounds. Each round shows one Japanese word with a time limit of 15 seconds.
- Type the reading of the whole word in romaji (it shows as hiragana) or in kana. The first correct answer wins the round.
- The player with more rounds wins. A duel is never a draw. Elo goes up for a win and down for a loss.
- Modes: Play (ranked, against a player of similar Elo, or an AI opponent when nobody is waiting), Challenge a friend (by link, with rematch), Training (no Elo).
- Word sets: JLPT N5 to N1, mixed words near your Elo, or practice sets that follow the chapter order of the Practical Kanji 500 and 700 books (1,198 kanji). Kanji Duel is not affiliated with the publisher of Practical Kanji, and no text of the books is used.
- Words, readings and meanings come from JMdict (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0). Word difficulty follows the study order and adjusts with real answers.

## JLPT levels

### JLPT N5
https://kanji.yldeai.com/learn/jlpt/n5
433 words using 369 kanji. Samples:
- 一 (いち): one; 1
- 万 (まん): 10,000; ten thousand
- 休む (やすむ): to be absent; to take a day off
- 赤 (あか): red; crimson; scarlet
- 左 (ひだり): left; left-hand side
- 二人 (ふたり): two persons; two people; pair
- 毎朝 (まいあさ): every morning
- 電気 (でんき): electricity
- 降る (ふる): to fall; to come down
- 近く (ちかく): near; neighbourhood; neighborhood
- 遠い (とおい): far; distant; far away
- 太い (ふとい): fat; thick
- 漢字 (かんじ): kanji; Chinese character
- 持つ (もつ): to hold; to take; to carry
- 取る (とる): to take; to pick up; to grab
- 問題 (もんだい): question; problem
- 言葉 (ことば): language; dialect
- 晴れ (はれ): clear weather; fine weather
- 寝る (ねる): to sleep
- 庭 (にわ): garden; yard; courtyard

### JLPT N4
https://kanji.yldeai.com/learn/jlpt/n4
392 words using 407 kanji. Samples:
- 月 (つき): Moon
- 花見 (はなみ): cherry blossom viewing; flower viewing
- 別れる (わかれる): to part; to part from; to part with
- 校長 (こうちょう): principal; head teacher; headmaster
- 神社 (じんじゃ): Shinto shrine
- 無理 (むり): unreasonable; unnatural; unjustifiable
- 育てる (そだてる): to raise; to rear; to bring up
- 用意 (ようい): preparation; arrangements; provision
- 出席 (しゅっせき): attendance; presence; appearance
- 冷える (ひえる): to grow cold; to get chilly
- 以下 (いか): not exceeding ...; not more than ...
- 日記 (にっき): diary; journal
- 建てる (たてる): to build; to construct
- 自由 (じゆう): freedom; liberty
- 背中 (せなか): back
- 優しい (やさしい): tender; kind; gentle
- 悲しい (かなしい): sad; miserable; unhappy
- 厳しい (きびしい): severe; strict; rigid
- 海岸 (かいがん): seashore; coast; seaside
- 約束 (やくそく): promise; agreement; arrangement

### JLPT N3
https://kanji.yldeai.com/learn/jlpt/n3
1146 words using 826 kanji. Samples:
- 万一 (まんいち): emergency; the worst; 10000 to 1
- 語学 (ごがく): study of foreign languages
- 出来事 (できごと): occurrence; happening; incident
- 男子 (だんし): boy
- 一言 (ひとこと): single word; a few words; brief comment
- 宿泊 (しゅくはく): accommodation; lodging
- 進める (すすめる): to advance; to move forward
- 論文 (ろんぶん): thesis; essay; treatise
- 連れ (つれ): companion; company
- 感動 (かんどう): being deeply moved emotionally
- 金融 (きんゆう): finance; financing; credit transacting
- 権利 (けんり): right; privilege
- 維持 (いじ): maintenance; preservation; improvement
- 適用 (てきよう): application
- 身 (み): one's body; one's person
- 答案 (とうあん): examination paper; examination script
- 郵便 (ゆうびん): mail service; postal service; mail
- 火災 (かさい): conflagration; fire
- 底 (そこ): bottom; sole; bed
- 骨 (ほね): bone

### JLPT N2
https://kanji.yldeai.com/learn/jlpt/n2
870 words using 701 kanji. Samples:
- 三日月 (みかづき): crescent moon; young moon
- 物語る (ものがたる): to tell; to give an account of
- 公務 (こうむ): official business; public business
- 小指 (こゆび): little finger; pinky; fourth finger
- 図形 (ずけい): figure; shape; graphic
- 遊園地 (ゆうえんち): amusement park
- 酒場 (さかば): bar; pub; tavern
- 学力 (がくりょく): scholarly ability; scholarship
- 経度 (けいど): longitude
- 農村 (のうそん): agricultural community; farm village
- 万歳 (ばんざい): banzai; hurray; hurrah
- 採点 (さいてん): marking; grading; scoring
- 盗難 (とうなん): theft; robbery
- 就任 (しゅうにん): assumption; taking up; inauguration
- 寝台 (しんだい): bed; couch
- 編集 (へんしゅう): editing; compilation
- 仮名 (かめい): alias; pseudonym; pen name
- 攻める (せめる): to attack; to assault; to assail
- 軟らかい (やわらかい): soft; tender; supple
- 傾く (かたむく): to incline toward; to slant; to lurch

### JLPT N1
https://kanji.yldeai.com/learn/jlpt/n1
1663 words using 948 kanji. Samples:
- 一々 (いちいち): one-by-one; separately
- 定まる (さだまる): to become settled; to be fixed
- 一切 (いっさい): all; everything; entirety
- 赤字 (あかじ): the red; deficit
- 制服 (せいふく): uniform
- 細やか (ささやか): small; little; tiny
- 原則 (げんそく): principle; general rule
- 様相 (ようそう): aspect; phase; condition
- 交易 (こうえき): trade; commerce
- 値 (あたい): price; cost
- 首脳 (しゅのう): head; leader; top
- 上昇 (じょうしょう): rising; ascending; climbing
- 敗戦 (はいせん): defeat; lost battle; losing a war
- 農耕 (のうこう): farming; agriculture; cultivation
- 出血 (しゅっけつ): bleeding; haemorrhage; hemorrhage
- 並びに (ならびに): and; both ... and; as well as
- 固定 (こてい): fixing; being fixed; securing
- 舞う (まう): to dance
- 親善 (しんぜん): friendship; goodwill; friendly relations
- 追放 (ついほう): exile; banishment; eviction

## Credits & licences

- [JMdict](https://www.edrdg.org/jmdict/j_jmdict.html): words, readings and meanings. © [Electronic Dictionary Research and Development Group](https://www.edrdg.org/), [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) ([EDRDG licence](https://www.edrdg.org/edrdg/licence.html)).
- [JmdictFurigana](https://github.com/Doublevil/JmdictFurigana) by Doublevil: the reading of each kanji in a word. [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).
- JLPT word lists by [Jonathan Waller](http://www.tanos.co.uk/jlpt/), [CC BY](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), matched to JMdict by [yomitan-jlpt-vocab](https://github.com/stephenmk/yomitan-jlpt-vocab) (stephenmk), [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).
- Fonts: [Shippori Mincho B1](https://github.com/fontdasu/ShipporiMincho) and [Zen Kaku Gothic New](https://github.com/googlefonts/zen-kakugothic), [SIL Open Font License 1.1](https://openfontlicense.org/).
- [WanaKana](https://github.com/WaniKani/WanaKana) (romaji to kana), [MIT](https://github.com/WaniKani/WanaKana/blob/master/LICENSE).

The word lists in Kanji Duel are adapted from JMdict and the sources above, and are shared under [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).

“Practical Kanji” is a book series of its publisher (AJALT / ASK). Kanji Duel is not affiliated with or endorsed by the publisher. The name is used only to say that the word sets follow the book order; no text of the book is used.