Terms of use

Effective October 15, 2026

These terms are an agreement between you and Kanamichi, LLC, 45980 Center Oak Plaza, Ste 155, Sterling, VA 20166, USA (“Kanamichi”, “we”). By creating an account or using the Kanamichi app or website, you agree to them. Our privacy policy explains how we handle your information.

The service

Kanamichi is an app for learning to read and speak Japanese. We work to keep it accurate and available, and we add, change and sometimes remove content and features over time.

Your account

You need an account to use Kanamichi, and you must be at least 13 years old to create one. Give a real email address, keep your password to yourself, and tell us if you think someone else has used your account; you are responsible for what happens under it. One account is for one person.

Plans and subscriptions

Kanamichi is free to start. Two paid levels unlock more:

• Journey — the whole course: all stations, grammar, decks and the rest of the app.
• Journey + AI Speech — everything in Journey, plus Sensei, AI conversations at every station, and per-kana grading of what you say. It is an upgrade of the same subscription, not a separate add-on: it renews on the same date, and canceling AI Speech takes you back to Journey.

Both are offered monthly or yearly. What each plan includes is described in the app and on this site.

Where you buy

• On the web (app.kanamichi.org), payments are processed by Stripe. If you are in the United States, Kanamichi is the seller. Outside the United States, Stripe sells the subscription on our behalf as merchant of record (Stripe Managed Payments), handles your local sales tax or VAT, and its own terms of sale also apply.
• In the Android app, subscriptions are sold through Google Play. Google takes the payment, and Google Play’s terms, payment rules and refund policies apply to that purchase.
• In the iPhone and iPad app, subscriptions are sold through the App Store using Apple In-App Purchase. Apple takes the payment, the subscription is tied to your Apple ID, and Apple’s Media Services terms, payment rules and refund policies apply to that purchase.

You can have one subscription at a time. A subscription bought in one place is managed there.

Renewal and canceling

Subscriptions renew automatically at the end of each period, at the price then in effect, until you cancel. You can cancel at any time:

• web: Settings → Your plan → Manage subscription (the Stripe customer portal);
• Android: Google Play → Payments & subscriptions → Subscriptions (or Settings → Your plan → Manage subscription in the app);
• iPhone and iPad: the Settings app → your name → Subscriptions → Kanamichi (or Settings → Your plan → Manage subscription in the app).

Canceling stops the next renewal; you keep access until the end of the period you have paid for. On the web and in the Android app, upgrading to Journey + AI Speech, or changing between monthly and yearly, takes effect at once. When you upgrade on the same billing period you pay only the difference for the time left and keep your renewal date; when the period changes (monthly to yearly or back) the unused time is credited toward the new plan. Moving from AI Speech down to Journey takes effect at your next renewal — you keep AI Speech until then.

In the iPhone and iPad app, Apple applies its own rules to plan changes: an upgrade to Journey + AI Speech starts at once, Apple refunds the unused part of your Journey plan pro rata, and a new renewal date starts from the day you upgrade. A move down to Journey, or a change between monthly and yearly, may take effect at your next renewal.

Refunds

Web purchases: if you are not happy with a new subscription, email support@kanamichi.org within 14 days of your first payment and we will refund it in full and end the subscription. After that, and for renewals, payments are not refunded, except where the law requires it or a fault on our side kept you from using what you paid for. Deleting your account cancels a web subscription at once without a refund for the rest of the period. If you live where consumer law gives you more rights, those rights apply.

Google Play purchases: refunds are handled by Google under Google Play’s refund policies. Ask Google first; we can also help through support.

App Store purchases: refunds are handled by Apple, not by Kanamichi. Request one at reportaproblem.apple.com, signed in with the Apple ID you used to subscribe. We can’t refund App Store purchases ourselves, but we are happy to help through support.

Price changes

We may change prices. A change never affects a period you have already paid for: we (or Google Play or Apple) will tell you in advance, and the new price applies from your next renewal. If you don’t want to pay it, cancel before then.

AI Speech: fair use

AI Speech runs on paid AI and speech services, so it comes with a monthly allowance, measured by use, per account and per usage month (counted from the day you subscribed). Sensei and the AI conversations, graded speaking, the teacher’s voice and listening all draw on the same allowance, each by what it costs to run; there is no daily limit and no separate count per feature. The meter in the app’s Settings shows how much of this month’s allowance you have used and when it resets.

When the allowance is used up, AI Speech pauses until your usage month resets, and the app falls back to typing and your device’s own voice and recognizer where it can. The free plan includes a short demo of Sensei and of speech grading. We may adjust the allowance; we will not lower it for a period you have already paid for. To protect the service, we also limit how many requests can be made in a short time.

Bonus usage

Where it is offered, active AI Speech members can buy bonus usage (extra AI Speech usage) in the app or on the web: one purchase adds 100% of a monthly allowance. Bonus usage is used only after the current month’s allowance is used up, and it never expires. If your AI Speech subscription ends, you keep any bonus usage left and can still use AI Speech until it runs out; subscribing again puts the monthly allowance back in front of it. Bonus usage has no cash value and cannot be transferred; any left over is forfeited if you delete your account. Refunds are handled like other purchases: by Apple or Google under their refund policies for purchases in the apps, and by us for web purchases (email support@kanamichi.org). A refunded purchase removes the bonus usage it added, or whatever is left of it.

AI output can be wrong

Sensei, the station conversations and the pronunciation grading use AI models and speech recognition. They are usually right, but they can make mistakes: a wrong correction, an odd translation, a reply that misses the point, or a kana marked wrong that you said well (or the other way round). Treat them as a study aid, not an authority. If a reply is inappropriate or misleading, tap ⚑ Report on it and we will look into it.

Acceptable use

Please don’t:

• use Kanamichi to break the law, or to harass anyone;
• try to make the AI produce harmful, hateful or sexual content, or use it for anything other than learning Japanese;
• get around plan limits, share an account, or resell access;
• scrape, copy or redistribute the app’s content, or reverse-engineer or attack our servers or the services we use;
• send automated traffic or otherwise overload the service.

We may suspend or close an account that breaks these rules. If we close a paid account for any other reason (for example, if we shut the service down), we refund the unused part of the period.

Content

The lessons, passages, scenes, decks, artwork, recordings and software are owned by Kanamichi or licensed to us (credits are in Settings → More), and you may use them for your own personal learning. Words and notes you add yourself remain yours; you let us store and process them to run the app for you.

Ending your account

You can stop using Kanamichi at any time and delete your account in Settings → General → Account, or by email — see Delete your Kanamichi account. Deleting cancels a web subscription but not a Google Play or App Store subscription. A Google Play subscription is canceled in Google Play. An App Store subscription keeps billing until you cancel it in the Settings app → your name → Subscriptions, and it stays with your Apple ID after your Kanamichi account is gone.

Disclaimer

Kanamichi is provided “as is” and “as available”. To the extent the law allows, we make no warranties, express or implied, including that the app will be error-free, uninterrupted, or fit for a particular purpose such as passing an exam.

Limitation of liability

To the extent the law allows, Kanamichi, LLC is not liable for indirect, incidental, special or consequential loss, or for lost data or profits, arising from your use of the app. Our total liability for any claim is limited to the amount you paid us in the twelve months before the claim, or $50 if you paid nothing. Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law, or your rights as a consumer where you live.

Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, USA, without regard to its conflict-of-law rules. Disputes go to the state or federal courts located in Virginia, unless the law where you live gives you the right to bring a claim in your local courts.

Changes to these terms

If we change these terms in a way that matters, we will tell you in the app and update the date above before the change takes effect. If you keep using Kanamichi after that, the new terms apply; if you don’t agree, you can cancel and delete your account.

Contact

Kanamichi, LLC · 45980 Center Oak Plaza, Ste 155, Sterling, VA 20166, USA · support@kanamichi.org