Umaiya · Japanese by Cooking

Learn Japanese by cooking, one gesture and one word at a time.

Umaiya isn't a textbook. It's a cooking notebook kept by Aiko, who shows you her everyday dishes, and by Kiku, her grandmother, who tells you why we eat them.

FIVE MINUTES A DAY
Every day, a trio is waiting for you: a new word, a short culture story, and the recipe of the week. Short enough for a break, regular enough to stick.

RECIPES EXPLAINED STEP BY STEP
Simple, quick dishes: miso soup, teriyaki chicken, onigiri, gyudon, soba noodles. Each recipe gives the ingredients in metric and US measures, detailed steps, and the small gesture that changes everything.

TWO WAYS TO COOK
Cook mode shows the steps in large type, easy to follow with busy hands. Learn mode adds the Japanese vocabulary for ingredients and gestures, to listen to and repeat.

REAL PRONUNCIATION
Every word can be heard aloud. Tap an ingredient and hear it in Japanese.

PLAY THE SCENE
Short role-play scenes with Aiko and Kiku — at the market, in the kitchen, at the table — to hear the words in context and say them yourself.

MEMORY THAT WORKS FOR YOU
The words you add to your reviews come back at the right time, thanks to spaced repetition. Your day streak and your cooking book keep track of what you've learned and cooked.

JAPAN, NOT JUST THE LANGUAGE
Shun and seasonal produce, the balance of a meal, what you never do with chopsticks, dashi as the foundation of flavor. Kiku's stories explain what lies behind the dishes.

NO ACCOUNT, NO ADS
No account to create, no ads, no trackers. The app works offline.

FREE AND SUBSCRIPTION
Two complete recipes, the daily trio, the vocabulary and reviews are free. The Umaiya+ subscription opens the whole recipe catalog, all of Kiku's stories, and the new recipes added every Tuesday.