NoaLingua Recommended
The best Chrome extensions for learning Japanese, led by NoaLingua
Japanese is the language with the best browser tooling and the most fragmented advice about it.
NoaLingua first, because it is the one extension that covers video, web pages and PDFs with the same dictionary and the same deck. Yomitan is the better pure pop-up dictionary for reading, and Anki remains the best place to keep cards once something else has collected them.
Free, and every feature works on the free plan. No account, no sign-up — the extension installs and works. What the paid plans change.
Why this one
Why we put NoaLingua first here
We make it, so read this as the argument it is — and then check it against what it cannot do, which is on the site for the same reason.
- One deck for everything: a word saved from an anime subtitle, a news article and a PDF all land in the same schedule with the same dictionary behind them.
- Clicking a conjugated form opens the grammar table at that form. For Japanese, where the ending carries the tense, politeness and negation, that is the lookup that actually answers the question.
- The Japanese Wiktionary pack is 45 MB and carries definitions, readings, IPA and register labels; it downloads once and then works offline.
- Anki export includes the video still and the speaker's own audio, so the card you end up with is the scene rather than a bare word — and export is free on every plan.
The shortlist
What to use
Every entry carries a reason not to pick it, including ours. Descriptions of other tools come from those tools' own pages, dated below each one.
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NoaLingua Our pick
A Chrome extension that turns YouTube, Netflix, any web page and PDFs into study material: dual subtitles, click any word for its meaning in that sentence, and a spaced schedule that brings it back.
Best for. One tool across anime, web pages and PDFs, with review and pronunciation built in and no account.
Not for. It is a 0.2 release with a very small user base, and it is built by one person. If you want something mature and widely used, that is a real reason to pick something else. Where it does and does not run is below.
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Yomitan
A free, open-source pop-up dictionary extension for Japanese, the maintained successor to Yomichan.
Best for. Fast, deeply configurable pop-up dictionary lookups while reading Japanese text, with your own choice of dictionary files.
Not for. It is a dictionary and nothing else by design — no dual subtitles, no review schedule, no pronunciation practice — and it expects you to source and configure dictionaries yourself.
Yomitan website · Described from Yomitan, project repository, read 2026-09-10
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Language Reactor
A long-established browser extension for dual subtitles on YouTube and Netflix.
Best for. Dual subtitles on YouTube and Netflix, with the longest track record in the category.
Not for. Its own FAQ states Disney+ and Amazon Prime are not supported, so it has the same streaming ceiling as everything else in this category.
Language Reactor website · Described from Language Reactor, official FAQ, read 2026-08-10
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Migaku
A subscription toolkit built around sentence mining and Anki, aimed at serious immersion learners.
Best for. Learners committed to an Anki-centred immersion workflow who want it built for them.
Not for. It is a paid subscription, and it expects you to be willing to run an Anki workflow.
Migaku website · Described from Migaku, official FAQ, read 2026-08-10
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Anki
The open-source spaced-repetition program, free on desktop and Android.
Best for. Long-term retention of cards, once something else has made them.
Not for. It does not collect anything for you. Anki reviews the cards you make; making them from what you watch and read is the part it leaves to you and to whatever tool you pair it with.
Anki website · Described from Anki, official site, read 2026-09-10
Where this recommendation stops
Crunchyroll, which is where a lot of anime lives and which NoaLingua does not support, along with Disney+, Prime Video and Viki. It is desktop Chrome 138 or newer, with no mobile app — and for Japanese specifically, no tool here replaces learning kana first.
The full list is on what NoaLingua cannot do, and the per-language detail is on supported languages.
Questions about best Chrome extensions for learning Japanese
Yomitan or NoaLingua?
Different jobs. Yomitan is the better pure reading dictionary and is endlessly configurable. NoaLingua covers video, web and PDFs with one deck and a review schedule attached. A lot of people reasonably run both.
Do I still need Anki?
Only if you want its scheduler specifically. NoaLingua has its own schedule and exports to Anki for free if you would rather keep everything there, including the video still and the original audio.
Does any of this work on Crunchyroll?
Not NoaLingua. Its dedicated video support is YouTube and Netflix only.
Read next
Install it and try this on the next thing you watch
Free, with every feature. No account, nothing to cancel, and your deck stays on your machine.
Add to Chrome — Free Add to Chrome Opens the Chrome Web Store listing NoaLingua — beyond dual subs: video, web, PDF — free, no account, Chrome 138 or newer.- Free, and not a trial Every feature on the free plan — both PDF modes, shadowing, all 30 practice formats.
- No account, no email Nothing to sign up for and nothing to cancel. There is no login screen at all.
- Two dropdowns to set up Pick what you are learning and what you want translations in. That is the whole setup.
- Your words stay yours Export to Anki, CSV, a spreadsheet or a full JSON profile — free on every plan.