japReader

This is a continuation of japReader originally developed by seth-js

Preview

Table of Contents

• japReader
• Preview
• Table of Contents
• Features
• Installation
  • Windows
  • Linux/MacOS
• Build
• Technical information
  • Configuration files
  • How to migrate data from old japReader
• Controls
  • Keybindings
  • Mouse buttons
• FAQ
  • How does this work?
  • How do I read VNs with this?
  • How do I read LNs/Ebooks with this?
  • How do I read manga with this?
  • How do I watch Drama/Movies/Anime with this?
  • How do I get Anki note creation to work?
  • I can't press a button / something doesn't work
  • Whoes the text "i+1" keep showing?
  • Why does the translation text dim sometimes?
  • I don't like a feature, is there any way I can turn it off?

Features

• Parser and dictionary from ichi.moe
• Furigana
• Translation history
• Word status tracking
• DeepL translations
• One-click Anki sentence/word card creation

Installation

Windows

1. Go to latest release
2. Download a file like japreader-x.y.z.Setup.exe
3. Run it. The .exe is not signed, so there might be some warnings.

Alternatively, if you don't want to install, you can download the .zip package:

1. Go to latest release
2. Download a file like japreader-win32-x64-x.y.z.zip
3. Extract it and run with japreader.exe

Linux/MacOS

1. Go to latest release
2. Download a file matching your distribution
3. Install the file using your package manager and sudo version

Build

1. Download and install node.js
2. Clone the repository git clone https://github.com/marisukukise/japReader.git
3. Navigate into it cd japReader
4. Install dependencies npm i
5. Add execution permissions to the file reading the clipboard:
   For Windows: Ignore this point, it already has permissions
   For Linux: sudo chmod 777 node_modules/clipboard-event/platform/clipboard-event-handler-linux
   For MacOS: (I don't know the command) Grant necessary permissions to the file node_modules/clipboard-event/platform/clipboard-event-handler-mac
6. Build files npm run make
7. The built files will be output in out/make/<your_platform>/x64 folder

If you want to run this without installing, in point 6. of Build you can instead run the program using npm start

Technical information

Configuration files

Configuration files are stored in:

OS	Configuration files path
Windows	%APPDATA%/japreader/config
Linux	$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/japreader/config or ~/.config/japreader/config

Although it's not recommended to change anything there, you can do everything that was intended through GUI in the options menu

How to migrate data from old japReader

1. Backup your old data in case something goes wrong
2. Open side by side: the configuration files folder and the old configuration folder data in pre-1.5 japReader in the install location.
3. Open the corresponding files one by one (e.g. status_data.json) and paste the data to fit the new template

Controls

Keybindings

• O Open Options Menu
• S Toggle Stay On Top
• H (in Translation Window) Toggle Transparent Translation Window
• A (in Dictionary) Play Audio
• Q (in Dictionary) Add to Anki

Mouse buttons

In the Reader window you can quickly change the status of a word with mouse buttons:

• LMB set to Seen
• RMB set to Known
• Ctrl+LMB set to Ignored

FAQ

How does this work?

• It watches your clipboard for Japanese text. Once Japanese text is detected, it gets parsing and dictionary data from ichi.moe.
• The word status tracking is done by checking each parsed dictionary form of a word against a small collection of word databases that accumulate as you use the program.
• The Anki feature uses the AnkiConnect API to send over the necessary card data.

How do I read VNs with this?

Use Textractor with "Copy to Clipboard" extension.

How do I read LNs/Ebooks with this?

Just copy some Japanese text from your book.

How do I read manga with this?

Option 1:

Use mangareader - browser-side manga reader, no need to download anything, just select one of the bubbles and it will copy it to clipboard and get picked up by japReader

Option 2:

Use mokuro - manga text generator, it scans the entire manga volume and outputs a .html file with selectable text for all text that the OCR detected. This program probably has better OCR, but I may be wrong.

(Optional) after you've generated your manga with mokuro, you can use Mokuro2Pdf to get a pdf file with manga with copyable text (it may be more convenient than the .html file that mokuro generates)

How do I watch Drama/Movies/Anime with this?

For video media, there are probably better ways to get a Japanese dictionary than japReader, but you can try using japReader too.

1. Download mpv
2. Download and install this plugin and this plugin for mpv
3. Open the video with mpv
4. Switch to Japanese subtitles with the J key
5. Press the * key (shift+8) to automatically copy subtitles to your clipboard
6. Press the N key to pause at the end of each subtitle line

How do I get Anki note creation to work?

1. Install Anki
2. Install the AnkiConnect addon
3. Fill in the Anki deck information in the Options menu (press O to open it)
4. Click Add to Anki in the Dictionary window, and an anki note should be added to your Anki deck

If you don't want to configure anything, you can download Anki_japReader.apkg and load it to Anki. The default settings are preconfigured for this deck.

I can't press a button / something doesn't work

If something doesn't work, and the buttons to reset the options can't be clicked (this sometimes happens on program update, when old settings remain), then before opening the issue you should try to:

1. Go to your configuration files
2. Delete the files options.json and window_settings.json This will keep your word data, but will just reset the options to default

If this still doesn't work, then something might be wrong with cache from old versions, in which case you should delete the entire japReader folder (one step up the configuration folder). But remember to backup your config/status_data.json file before, because it contains your seen/known/etc data.

Why does the text "i+1" keep showing?

When the the text "i+1" shows up, that means there is only one unknown word in the sentence. This is perfect for sentence/vocab Anki cards.

Why does the translation text dim sometimes?

This happens when there is only one unknown word in the sentence. You should hopefully be able to not depend on the translation. But you can turn this feature off.

I don't like a feature, is there any way I can turn it off?

Press O while one of the windows is in focus. The options menu will open up. All settings can be modified from there.