Read in Romaji FAQ
Questions about accuracy, privacy, browsers, or Pro features? Start here.
General
Read in Romaji is a browser extension that adds romaji readings above Japanese text on supported webpages. It is a transliteration and reading aid tool — not a translation tool. Its goal is to help you keep reading without stopping to look up every word.
No. Read in Romaji is a transliteration tool. It converts Japanese text into romaji, but it does not translate Japanese into English or any other language. If you need translation, a dedicated translation tool is the better fit.
Read in Romaji is built for Japanese learners who want help reading without relying on full translation. It is especially useful for beginners and hobbyists who are still building reading confidence, as well as intermediate learners who want to read more native content with fewer interruptions.
It works on many websites that contain normal text-based Japanese content, including news sites, forums, blogs, social platforms, and reference pages. A smaller number of sites may not be fully supported if they rely on sandboxing, canvas-rendered text, or non-standard page structures. Read in Romaji does not convert image-based or video-based content such as scanned PDFs, image files, or subtitles burned into video.
Accuracy & quality
Read in Romaji is accurate for standard written Japanese. It uses a dictionary-based morphological analyzer to tokenize text and look up readings in context. Accuracy may still be lower for rare kanji, unusual writing, intentional misspellings, or more difficult edge cases. Some advanced reading support is reserved for Pro features.
Read in Romaji uses Hepburn romanization — the most common system used in Japanese learning materials, dictionaries, and signage.
Yes. The extension identifies Japanese character runs (kanji, hiragana, katakana) and annotates only those segments. Latin text is left completely untouched.
Privacy & data
No. Read in Romaji processes text locally in your browser on your device. It does not have access to your browsing history, it does not track which sites you visit, and it does not send any page content to external servers. The only network requests it makes are related to Pro account access and license validation.
No account is required for the Free plan. Just install and use it. A Pro account is required to activate Pro features and restore Pro access across up to 3 devices via Google sign-in.
Technical
Chrome, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge are part of the current launch plan. Brave is also supported through the Chrome Web Store because it is Chromium-based. Safari is not part of the current launch plan.
The romaji conversion happens after the page has loaded, so it does not block rendering. On very large pages, the overlay may take a moment to appear, but the page itself still loads and renders normally.
First, check that the extension is enabled and that the toolbar icon is active. If neither applies, the site may use a rendering method the extension does not support — report it through the support page and we’ll investigate.
Still have questions?
Reach out on the support page. We read every message.