Press Kit

Yomu is an iOS app designed to support Japanese reading practice, with a focus on reducing reliance on full furigana at intermediate levels.

It is a lightweight reader intended for working with real Japanese text, such as articles, short passages, and excerpts, with integrated dictionary lookup to reduce context switching while reading.

Built by a Japanese learner for learners, Yomu addresses the real challenges of the intermediate plateau—too advanced for textbooks, not yet comfortable with native content.

Yomu was created by Igor Kulman, a developer and Japanese learner who experienced the same frustration many intermediate learners face: study materials that show furigana on every single kanji, making it impossible to actually learn to read the characters.

The breakthrough came during a class where students covered the furigana with paper. Reading became harder—but also more effective. That simple insight led to Yomu's core feature: adaptive furigana that hides readings for kanji you should already know based on your JLPT level, while keeping support where you still need it.

Additional features, such as text import, camera-based OCR, and an offline dictionary, were added to support that core use case.

Platform: iOS 18.0 or later (iPhone and iPad)

Price: Yomu is free to download with core reading features. Some advanced features (such as OCR and vocabulary tools) are available as a single one-time in-app purchase.

Availability: Coming Soon to the App Store