Kanji, hiragana, katakana script
Japanese OCR 日本語
Extract text from scanned Japanese documents and images. The Japanese OCR model reads kanji, hiragana and katakana together, and returns Unicode text you can translate or summarise with an AI assistant.
● Runs in your browser. Your files are never uploaded..pdf.jpg.png.docx.xlsx.xls.csv.txtJapanese and English are already selected. Add or remove languages in the box above.
Good for
- Manuals and technical documents
- Business letters and quotations
- Books and printed articles
- Product packaging and labels
Tips for better Japanese results
- Horizontal text converts best; vertical (tategaki) columns may be read in the wrong order.
- Furigana (small readings above kanji) can appear as extra characters; remove them in the output if needed.
- The language data is large, so the first conversion takes a little longer to start.
How it works
- Drop a scanned PDF, photo or screenshot into the box above, or paste an image.
- Pages that already contain text are read directly. Scanned pages go through Japanese OCR in your browser.
- Download the result as a Markdown (.md) file, or copy it and paste it into ChatGPT, Claude, Word or Google Docs.
Questions
Is this Japanese OCR free?
Yes. Without an account you can convert 10 scanned pages a day, and a free account gives you 30. Pro removes the limit.
Are my Japanese documents uploaded anywhere?
No. OCR runs inside your browser. The Japanese language data is downloaded to your browser once, but your files never leave your device.
How accurate is Japanese OCR?
Clean, printed Japanese text at 300 dpi converts well. Handwriting, faint photocopies, stamps and decorative fonts reduce accuracy, so check names, numbers and dates against the original.
Other languages
Read our guides on getting better results from documents in AI tools.