These days, there are many tools out there designed to make reading Japanese easier. For example, browser plugins like Rikaikun and Yomichan allow you to view the definitions of Japanese words just by hovering over them with your cursor. This lowers one of the biggest hurdles to looking up unfamiliar words in the dictionary — the sheer time and effort it takes to do.

However, while these tools are very useful, the automated approach is not perfect, and students often find that they still struggle to understand the meaning of what they read.

First, automated browser plugins don’t always understand word boundaries perfectly, so they can make mistakes in the way they parse sentences. And secondly, they show the entire dictionary definition for the words they identify. Since some words have dozens of different meanings, that can be overwhelming.

In Satori Reader, we address both of these issues to provide a better reading experience.

First, we prepare our text by manually breaking it into individual units for words and multi-word expressions. Since this work is done by an actual human being who understands Japanese, you never have to worry about whether an automated system got confused and didn’t parse the text correctly.

Next, we attach dictionary definitions to each word and expression. Importantly, though, we don’t simply attach the entire entry. Instead, we pick the actual sense of the word as it is being used in that very sentence.

For example, the particle と has several different functions:

• It can mean “and” in a list like AとBとC.
• It can mean “with” in a sentence like ジョンさんと話した。
• It can mean “if/when” in a sentence like 家に帰ると、妻がいなかった。
• It can mark a quotation of saying or thinking in a sentence like それはすごいと思った。
• It can work with mimetic words to mark a state or manner in a sentence like キラキラと光った。
• It can serve as a more formal equivalent of に in a sentence like 禁煙となっております。

For every instance of every word in Satori Reader, we attach the precise sense in which that word is being used. That means when you click a word in Satori Reader, you are not just seeing a generic dictionary entry. You’re seeing what that word means here.

Here’s an example of a sentence with two instances of と. Note that each is annotated differently.

This process takes a lot of manual effort, but we have found that it is extremely valuable to our readers. If a reader thinks they understand how a word is being used but aren’t 100% sure, they can tap it to quickly check their guess. And if they are seeing a new word, or a use of a word that is new to them, they can quickly tap to see what it means in this context, without leaving the flow of the story they are reading.

If you’re getting started with reading Japanese and you think this kind of help would be useful, please give Satori Reader a try. This is just one of the many features we’ve designed to help people just like you get the most out of reading Japanese.