YABAI

Japanese textbooks don't teach you everything. YABAI is the Japanese people actually use — slang, internet words, fandom talk, and everyday expressions you hear in Tokyo, in anime, and all over social media. One beautiful word at a time.

This is not a study app. It's a Japanese culture snack. Open it for a minute, meet one word, close it. No streaks, no tests, no levels, no guilt.

FREE TO START
58 words are free in full — meaning, example, story and audio — including every word from our YouTube Shorts. Want the rest? A single purchase unlocks the full version: all 308 words. No subscription.

MEET REAL JAPANESE
• 300+ Japanese slang, internet, fandom, and everyday expressions: やばい, 推し, 草, エモい, 沼る
• Giant Japanese typography set like a magazine cover, with washi-paper atmosphere
• Romaji and a punchy one-line meaning, so you get it in seconds
• Original example sentences that show how each word is actually used
• Tap to hear every word and example read aloud in Japanese (device text-to-speech)

KNOW THE VIBE, NOT JUST THE MEANING
Every word carries a Vibe badge — Safe to use, Friends only, or Be careful — plus tone hints like "self-deprecating", "internet slang", or "Kansai dialect". Dictionaries tell you what a word means. YABAI helps you feel when, and with whom, it sounds natural.

READ THE STORY
Every word comes with a short magazine-style story: where it came from, who says it now, and how words spread through forums, fandoms, social media, and everyday speech. Background and origins honestly told — when an origin is debated or unclear, YABAI says so.

COLLECT, DON'T STUDY
Words you linger on become Discovered — stamped with a little hanko seal. Watch your collection grow by category, see your days explored on a quiet calendar, and open Today's Drop: one word chosen for each date. Cumulative, never a streak. Nothing to lose, nothing to feel bad about.

IN YOUR LANGUAGE
Fully available in 13 languages — English, 日本語, Français, Español, 한국어, 简体中文, 繁體中文, Bahasa Indonesia, Tiếng Việt, ไทย, Português, Deutsch, Italiano — every word, every meaning, every story.

PRIVATE BY DESIGN
No YABAI account, no sign-up, no ads, no third-party analytics, and no YABAI servers. The dictionary ships inside the app, and your collection, favorites, and settings stay on your device.

Real Japanese language, culture, and vibe — one word at a time.