Japanese Text Extractor
Extract specific Japanese characters from mixed text. Filter out hiragana, katakana, kanji, or romaji from any text containing multiple scripts.
Back to the Character Converter hub βWhen to Use This Converter
Creating Kanji Study Lists
Extract all kanji characters from Japanese articles, books, or websites to create focused study lists. This helps language learners identify which kanji they need to study for specific texts or JLPT levels.
Cleaning OCR and Scanned Text
Optical Character Recognition (OCR) often produces mixed-script results with errors. Extract only the Japanese characters you need, filtering out incorrectly recognized romaji or symbols to clean up scanned documents.
Analyzing Text Composition
Writers, researchers, and educators can analyze the character composition of Japanese texts to understand reading difficulty, style, or appropriateness for different learner levels based on hiragana/kanji ratios.
Separating Loanwords for Translation
When translating or analyzing Japanese text, extract katakana loanwords separately to identify foreign terms that may not need translation or require special handling in your target language.
About Japanese Text Extraction
Japanese text often contains a mixture of different writing systems:
- Hiragana (γ²γγγͺ): Used for native Japanese words and grammatical particles
- Katakana (γ«γΏγ«γ): Used for foreign loanwords and emphasis
- Kanji (ζΌ’ε): Chinese characters used for content words
- Romaji: Roman letters often mixed in modern Japanese text
This extractor helps you isolate specific character types from mixed text, making it easier to study specific scripts, process text for different purposes, or analyze the composition of Japanese texts.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between 'All Japanese Characters' and individual extractions?
'All Japanese Characters' extracts hiragana, katakana, and kanji together in their original order, preserving Japanese words and sentences. Individual extractions (Hiragana Only, Katakana Only, Kanji Only) filter out everything except that specific character type, useful for focused study or analysis.
Can this tool extract text from images or PDFs?
No, this tool only processes text that you paste into it. If you have Japanese text in an image or PDF, you'll first need to use OCR (Optical Character Recognition) software to convert it to text, then paste the result here to extract specific character types.
Why are spaces added between extracted text segments?
The extractor adds spaces between separate character sequences to improve readability and show where different words or character groups were in the original text. This makes it easier to see individual kanji or words that were extracted, especially useful for creating study lists.
How does the character analysis count work?
The character analysis counts each individual character in your input text and categorizes it by type. Hiragana characters (γ²γγγͺ) are counted separately from katakana (γ«γΏγ«γ), kanji (ζΌ’ε), romaji (A-Z), and other characters (numbers, punctuation, symbols). This helps you understand the composition of your text.
Can I extract multiple character types at once?
Currently, you can select one extraction type at a time. To extract multiple types, you'll need to run the extraction twice with different settings and combine the results. The 'All Japanese Characters' option extracts hiragana, katakana, and kanji together, which covers most use cases for Japanese text extraction.
Tips for Best Results
π‘For Beginners
Use Kanji Extraction for Vocabulary Lists
When reading Japanese articles or books, extract all kanji to identify unfamiliar characters you need to study. Copy the extracted kanji into flashcard apps or vocabulary lists for targeted learning.
πAdvanced Tips
Check Text Difficulty with Statistics
Use the character analysis statistics to gauge text difficulty. Texts with high kanji counts are typically advanced, while texts with mostly hiragana are beginner-friendly. Compare ratios across different materials to find appropriate reading level.
Clean Up Mixed-Language Content
When working with Japanese text that has English mixed in (common in technical documents or social media), use the extractor to separate Japanese from romaji. This is helpful for translation, analysis, or creating clean Japanese-only versions.
β οΈCommon Mistakes to Avoid
Don't Rely Solely on Extracted Text
Extracted text loses context and word boundaries. Kanji extraction won't show you compound words or how characters combine. Always refer back to the original text to understand proper usage and meaning - this tool is for analysis, not reading practice.
Remember Particles Get Extracted Too
When extracting hiragana, you'll get grammatical particles (γ―γγγγ«γetc.) mixed in with words. This is normal but means hiragana extraction isn't ideal for vocabulary lists. It's better suited for identifying grammatical patterns or beginner-friendly words.