Terms of Service

Nihongo Circle provides Japanese-language study tools — a dictionary, grammar and vocabulary lessons, spaced-repetition review, games, listening and reading practice, and a practice (“mock”) test. Every learning feature is free — there is no paid tier that unlocks study tools or content. Optional cosmetic purchases change appearance only; they do not change XP, ranks, reviews, streaks or competitive results. The free Service may display advertising. An optional paid subscription (“Pro”) removes that advertising and does nothing else — see Pro for details.

Nihongo Circle is an independent study aid. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the Japan Foundation, JEES, or any official JLPT body. Our practice tests and pass estimates are study tools only and do not predict or guarantee your result on any official exam.

You need an account to use most features. Accounts and sign-in are handled by our authentication provider, Clerk. You are responsible for keeping your login credentials secure and for activity that happens under your account.

You must be at least 13 years old to use the Service. If you are under the age of majority where you live, you may use the Service only with the involvement of a parent or guardian.

Pro is optional. It removes advertising and does not unlock any learning feature — every study tool on Nihongo Circle is free. If you subscribe:

• Payments are processed by our billing provider, RevenueCat, and its payment partners. We never see or store your card details.
• Subscriptions renew automatically at the end of each billing period until you cancel.
• You can cancel at any time. Cancellation stops the next renewal; your Pro benefits continue until the end of the period you've already paid for.
• If we change the price, we'll tell you before it takes effect, and you can cancel if you don't want to continue.
• Refunds are handled case by case — contact us and we'll be reasonable. Nothing here limits refund rights you have under your local consumer law.

Accounts created before advertising launched remain ad-free without a subscription.

A cosmetic pack is an optional one-time purchase for use on your account. It gives you permission to display the included artwork and decorations within the Service, not ownership of the artwork or its intellectual property. Existing free cosmetics and earned rewards remain available under their existing rules. Cosmetic purchases are separate from Pro and do not remove advertising. RevenueCat verifies the cosmetic entitlement for your signed-in account. Payment and wardrobe delivery are tracked separately; if delivery is pending, use Check purchase status or contact purchase support before paying again.

Nihongo Circle supplies and sells the cosmetic pack. Cosmetic checkout uses Stripe Managed Payments, sold through Link as merchant of record for the payment. This does not replace our responsibilities as the seller. The merchant identity, payment terms, final total, currency and applicable tax are shown at checkout and on your receipt. Review them before paying. See Sold through Link for transaction support.

Purchase while signed in to the account you want to use. A pack is bound to that account; use the same account to access it later. Items start hidden on your first purchase. Choose the whole pack or individual items in your wardrobe, and hide them whenever you like. If you buy the pack again after a refund, your previously saved selections can reappear. A one-time pack has no scheduled expiry or renewal charge, but its use depends on your account and the continued availability of the Service. Deleting your account removes its cosmetic purchase records and access.

A successful full refund or a payment dispute removes access to the affected purchase. Partial or failed refunds do not automatically remove access. If a dispute has been resolved, contact us for review; access is not restored automatically. See refund requests or purchase support for help with a missing purchase. Nothing in these Terms limits your statutory consumer rights, including applicable cancellation, withdrawal or refund rights.

To give notice of withdrawal, use the public withdrawal form or email techspacewizard@gmail.com. Identify your purchase, give your name and acknowledgment email, review the statement and confirm it. No reason is required. We record when your statement reaches us and send a copy and reference by email. This acknowledgment records receipt; it is not confirmation that a refund has been completed. If the form is unavailable, email remains available. Equipping an item alone does not waive an applicable withdrawal right.

When using the Service, you agree not to:

• Attempt to access accounts, data, or systems that aren't yours.
• Scrape, bulk-download, or resell the Service's content or data, or use automated tools to overload it.
• Probe, attack, or disrupt the Service or its infrastructure (see our Security Policy for how to report vulnerabilities responsibly).
• Upload or submit content that is unlawful, abusive, hateful, or infringes others' rights.
• Impersonate others or misuse handles, profiles, or messages.

You may provide content such as a public handle, display name, profile bio, and bug or suggestion reports. You keep ownership of what you submit. You grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to store and display that content as needed to operate the Service (for example, showing your handle on a leaderboard or public profile).

Keep your public content appropriate. We may remove content or suspend accounts that violate these Terms.

The Service’s software, design, and original content are owned by Nihongo Circle or its licensors. Japanese dictionary, kanji, and word-list data come from open third-party sources under their own licences — see our Credits & data sources page. Those licences continue to govern that data.

The Service is provided “as is” and “as available,” without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including fitness for a particular purpose. We don’t guarantee the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or that its content is complete or accurate. Study outcomes depend on you — we can’t and don’t guarantee you’ll pass any exam.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Nihongo Circle and its operators will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, or consequential damages arising from your use of (or inability to use) the Service. Our total liability to you is limited to the greater of the amount you paid us in the twelve months before the claim, or nothing if you use the Service for free.

We may change, suspend, or discontinue any part of the Service at any time. We may also update these Terms; when we do, we’ll revise the “Last updated” date above, and material changes will be noted in-app where practical. Continued use after changes means you accept them.

You may stop using the Service and delete your account at any time. We may suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms.

These Terms are governed by the laws of the operator’s place of residence, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Nothing here removes consumer-protection rights you may have under your local law.

Our Privacy Policy explains what data we collect and how we use it. By using the Service, you also agree to that policy.