About Shiritai

Shiritai (知りたい, “I want to know”) turns the Japanese you actually meet — social posts, Threads, X, YouTube comments, messages — into clear grammar, kanji, vocabulary, and nuance explanations tuned to your level. Paste a sentence and get a breakdown a dictionary alone can’t give you.

Who writes this

Every post on the blog is written by the founder.

Alina Zhusupbekova Ozcan

Founder, Shiritai

Alina is the founder of Shiritai and an independent developer. A self-taught Japanese learner who has lived in Osaka — five months from March 2020 and six months from June 2025 — she builds tools that turn real social-media Japanese into clear, level-aware explanations: the kind of breakdown she wished she'd had as a learner. She also shares her photography at Les Yeux d'Alina.

Keep learning

Browse the blog for grammar guides, JLPT tips, and breakdowns of real social-media Japanese, or try Shiritai on a sentence.