Help & support

1. 1

   Turn on furigana

   Click the Shiritai icon in your toolbar and use the toggle to switch readings on. Hiragana appears above the kanji on the page you're reading.

2. 2

   Turn it off when you want a challenge

   Use the same toggle in the popup to hide readings. Your setting is remembered per page.

3. 3

   Explain any selection

   Highlight Japanese text, right-click, and choose “Explain with Shiritai”from the menu. It opens a study card with translation, grammar, vocabulary, kanji, nuance, and JLPT level.

Furigana isn't showing on a page

Refresh the tab after installing. The reader activates when a page loads, so a page that was already open needs one reload. Also check that the toggle in the popup is switched on and that the page contains Japanese text.

Explain selection doesn't open anything

Explaining a selection opens the Shiritai website, which needs an internet connection. It also shares a daily usage limit, so if it has stopped for the day, try again tomorrow.

My selection is too long to explain

Study cards work best with short text. If a selection is too long, highlight a smaller phrase and explain that instead.

It doesn't work on a specific site

Chrome blocks extensions on internal pages (like chrome:// and the Web Store), the PDF viewer, and some sites with strict security rules. This is a Chrome limitation, not a bug in Shiritai.

• Furigana is local. Readings are generated entirely in your browser using a built-in dictionary. The text of the page is not sent anywhere just to show readings.
• “Explain” sends your selection. When you explain text, only the text you highlight is sent to shiritai.app to build your study card. Avoid selecting anything private or sensitive.

Email us at support@shiritai.app. If something isn't working, include the website address, a short description of what happened, and a screenshot if you can.