Furigana Generator
Paste supported Japanese text and generate ruby furigana or plain reading output.
How the Furigana Generator Works
Ruby vs Plain Output
Ruby output uses the HTML <ruby> element so the kana floats above each kanji the way it appears in Japanese textbooks. It looks polished but is harder to copy into plain text. Plain output shows the reading inline in brackets after each word, which copies cleanly into flashcards, study notes, or chat. Pick the format that fits where the text is heading next.
Why Some Kanji Have Multiple Readings
Most kanji carry both an on'yomi (Chinese-derived reading) and one or more kun'yomi (native Japanese readings). Names use a third category called nanori that doesn't appear in dictionaries. The generator picks the most likely reading from context, but compound words, proper nouns, and rare combinations can surprise even native speakers — verify unfamiliar entries against a dictionary.
Coverage and Limitations
The parser handles the bulk of everyday Japanese, JLPT vocabulary, and common names. Very rare kanji, modern slang, brand names, and freshly coined compounds may come back unchanged because the dictionary doesn't list them. That's expected behaviour — when a reading is missing, the surface kanji is preserved so you can spot the gap and look it up manually.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is furigana and why is it useful?
Furigana is a small hiragana (or sometimes katakana) reading printed above or beside a kanji character to show how it is pronounced. It is the standard way to make Japanese text accessible to learners, children, or anyone who has not yet memorized a specific kanji reading. Adding furigana lets you read real Japanese sentences that contain kanji without guessing pronunciations — you see the kana above each character and can still learn the kanji shape at the same time.
How do I add furigana to kanji automatically?
Paste any Japanese sentence into the input field and click Generate. The tool analyses the text, identifies the kanji tokens, and returns either HTML ruby markup (with each reading correctly paired to its kanji) or a plain text version with the readings in parentheses. You do not need to install anything, make an account, or pre-process the sentence — just paste and generate.
What is the difference between ruby output and plain reading text?
Ruby output returns HTML with <ruby><rt>...</rt></ruby> markup so the reading appears directly above the kanji when rendered in a browser, e-reader, or word processor. Plain reading text returns the sentence with furigana shown inline, either in parentheses or as a separate annotated line. Pick ruby when you need something you can paste into a website, Word document, or reading tool. Pick plain text when you want to copy the readings into flashcards, Anki, or a notes app that does not support ruby markup.
Why does the generator sometimes show partial output?
The generator relies on a bundled Japanese morphological analyser and dictionary. If a word is rare, newly coined, or uses an unusual kanji compound that is not in the dictionary, the tool marks those tokens honestly instead of guessing. You will still get readings for every kanji the tool recognises, and the unrecognised tokens are passed through unchanged so you can manually fill them in. Edit the input slightly (for example, add spaces around an unrecognised word) and the analyser often picks up the correct segmentation on the next run.
Does the furigana generator work on mobile and without an internet connection?
The page itself is fully responsive and works on phones, tablets, and desktop browsers. Furigana generation currently runs through a server endpoint, so you need an internet connection for the actual analysis step. Once the reading is generated you can copy or paste it anywhere — including offline reading apps, e-readers, or printed study sheets — and the ruby markup continues to render without any further network call.
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