Terms of Service

Nihongo Circleprovides Japanese-language study tools — a dictionary, grammar and vocabulary lessons, spaced-repetition review, games, listening and reading practice, and a practice (“mock”) test. Every feature of the Service is provided free of charge — there is no paid tier that unlocks functionality, and no part of the Service is reserved for paying users. 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 feature — everything on Nihongo Circle is available to free users. 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.

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.