Yomitan
Shares rank 39 of 70 browser extensions by recommenders
A free browser extension that shows dictionary readings and definitions when you hover over Japanese words, so learners can read and look up terms without leaving the page.
A free browser extension that shows dictionary readings and definitions when you hover over Japanese words, so learners can read and look up terms without leaving the page.
10 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 9
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 90%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 9 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 9 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Works with browser reading and OCR workflows
“used OCR on manga pages and then Yomitan to hover over and see word definitions (in English)”
Comment from 17 Dec 2025 in “Show HN: Learn Japanese contextually while browsing” “The Yomitan+ttsu stack on desktop is unbeatable for learning by reading in my experience.”
Comment from 29 Dec 2025 in “Show HN: My app just won best iOS Japanese learning tool of 2025 award” Japanese-to-Japanese dictionary support
“I prefer to use a Japanese to Japanese dictionary when possible which I have as a browser extension”
Comment from 6 Jan 2026 in “Interpreter – Offline screen translator for Japanese retro games” “Something similar to https://yomitan.wiki/ or https://jisho.org/search/kotoba would be preferred.”
Comment from 17 Dec 2025 in “Show HN: Learn Japanese contextually while browsing”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Only PC setups mentioned by critics
“a mediocre PC-only Ttsu + Yomitan + Anki setup”
Comment from 29 Dec 2025 in “Show HN: My app just won best iOS Japanese learning tool of 2025 award”
Other browser extensions people recommend
The four most recommended other browser extensions, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SponsorBlock | 137 | 4 | 97% | 13 | — | Approved |
| Firefox Multi-Account Containers | 76 | 13 | 85% | 10 | 7.5 yrs3 owners | Approved |
| NoScript | 61 | 11 | 85% | 12 | 10 yrs4 owners | Approved |
| Claude in Chrome | 53 | 42 | 56% | 9 | — | — |
| YomitanThis page | 9 | 1 | 90% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
11 of the 12 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Yomitan only shows readings for words you explicitly hover over and press a modifier key, so it doesn't distract you”
“dictionary support for Japanese ... is lacking behind browser extensions such as Yomitan”
“I prefer to use a Japanese to Japanese dictionary when possible which I have as a browser extension”
“a mediocre PC-only Ttsu + Yomitan + Anki setup”
“I'd never have gotten here without the two.”
“I'm always using Yomitan's ability to look up words within definitions”
“The Yomitan+ttsu stack on desktop is unbeatable for learning by reading in my experience.”
“Isn't that what the Rikai line (10ten, Yomitan) of add-ons are for?”
“Yomitan and the older Yomichan work fine.”
“used OCR on manga pages and then Yomitan to hover over and see word definitions (in English)”
“Something similar to https://yomitan.wiki/ or https://jisho.org/search/kotoba would be preferred.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.