Become work-ready in Japanese
Practice job interviews, workplace conversations, and keigo with a voice-first app built for professional life in Japan.
Join the waitlist for early access and the founding rate of ¥1,950 a month.
One email when it launches. No spam, unsubscribe any time — see how we handle your address.
What one scenario looks like
一場面の流れThursday afternoon. The report is due tomorrow and it won’t be ready. Your 課長 has just asked how it’s going.
Renegotiating a deadlineUNIT 3.5
Thursday afternoon. The report is due tomorrow and it will not be ready. Your 課長 (section chief) is at their desk, and the data you were sent had gaps in it. Ask for two more days.
「例の資料、明日までで大丈夫だよね?」
“That report — you’re fine for tomorrow, right?”
「あ、すみません、実はまだ終わっていなくて……本当に申し訳ないです。もう少しお時間をいただけると助かるんですが、たぶん来週には……」
“Ah, sorry, actually it’s not finished yet… I’m really very sorry. It would help if I could have a bit more time, but maybe by next week…”
Good: You raised it on Thursday rather than on Friday morning. That instinct is right, and it’s the half of this that better Japanese can’t fix afterwards.
Try: Lead with the fact, then apologise: 「一点ご相談がございます。金曜の提出が難しい状況です」 — “There’s one thing I’d like to consult you on. Friday’s submission is looking difficult.” Three apologies currently arrive before your 課長 knows what has happened.
Watch: 「たぶん来週には」 answers a question about a date without giving one — 「逃げの曖昧さ」, hedging where a commitment was asked for. Name the day: 「火曜の午前中までにお出しできます」 — “I can have it to you by Tuesday morning.”
- 敬体Register通用 Passes
- 語法Word choice未達 Not yet
- 構成Structure未達 Not yet
- 中身Substance未達 Not yet
- 話し方Delivery通用 Passes
「課長、一点ご相談がございます。金曜の提出が難しい状況です。先方からいただいたデータに不備があり、確認に時間を要しております。品質を担保するために、火曜の午前中までいただくことは可能でしょうか。取り急ぎ、現時点の版は本日中にお送りいたします。」
“課長 — there’s one thing I’d like to consult you on. Friday’s submission is looking difficult: there were gaps in the data the client sent, and checking it is taking time. To keep the quality up, would it be possible to have until Tuesday morning? I’ll send you the current version by the end of today in the meantime.”
- 敬体Register自然 Natural
- 語法Word choice通用 Passes
- 構成Structure自然 Natural
- 中身Substance自然 Natural
- 話し方Delivery通用 Passes
That’s one scenario at 通用 or better. Four of the five in this unit, against the hardest listener in the set, and unit 3.5 is done.
An illustration of one scenario — not a recording. The app isn’t built yet. Read the syllabus.
Interview booked? You start at Module 01 面接 The interview.
¥1,950 a month while the waitlist is open, ¥3,900 after — every unit in the syllabus, and as many attempts at each scenario as it takes.
See the full pricingWhere you start
どこから始めるかFive modules. Work through them in order, or start at the one that matches your situation and skip what you don’t need.
- 01面接The interview10 unitsOpen
“I have an interview booked.”
You can sit any round of a Japanese interview — screen, hiring manager, or 役員 — and answer the follow-up as well as the question.
- 02足場Footing5 unitsOpen
“I’m starting a job in Japan and I don’t want the first month to be the hard way.”
You get through an ordinary office day in the right register without thinking about it, and you can tell who outranks whom in the room.
- 03報連相Report, inform, consult7 unitsOpen
“I can’t give my manager a straight update, and reporting a problem is worse.”
You run your own work upward — status, blockers, mistakes and questions — without over-apologising or under-informing.
- 04場をまわすHandle the room7 unitsOpen
“I go silent in meetings, and I freeze when a client calls.”
You hold a position in a meeting, take a client call cold, and write the email afterwards.
- 05前に出るTake the lead6 unitsOpen
“I have to present, push back, and argue for myself — and I can’t yet.”
You present, push back upward, apologise on behalf of the company, and negotiate without either side losing face.
The whole syllabus, published
All 35 units, in order, and what each one fixes.
Why it works this way
この方法である理由Most Japanese study material is built to be graded. This is built to be spoken.
You speak. Every time.
Out loud, in your own words, with someone senior waiting. That’s the part that fails on the day.
Organised by situation, not grammar point
You don’t need a lesson on 〜させていただく. You need to renegotiate a deadline on a Tuesday.
Feedback on register, not just right and wrong
Which verb elevated the wrong person, where the cushion phrase was missing, whether you ran 90 seconds when the brief was 60.
Common questions
よくある質問- What level do I need to be?
- Roughly N3 and up — enough grammar to form your own sentences, since you’ll be speaking rather than selecting. If you can hold a casual conversation but tighten up the moment it’s work, this is aimed squarely at you.
- Is this JLPT preparation?
- No, and deliberately so. The JLPT tests reading and listening; nobody at work will ask you to identify a grammar pattern. This covers the production side the test never measures.
- Why not just ask ChatGPT?
- For a phrase or a correction, do — it’s good at that, and it’s the same class of model underneath this. What a chat won’t do is decide what you practise next, or tell you what to drop when your interview is in two weeks. That’s what a syllabus is for, and ours is published in full.
- What will it cost?
- A monthly subscription, planned at ¥3,900. Everyone on the waitlist gets the founding rate of ¥1,950 a month, held for as long as they stay subscribed — the full pricing is here.
- What do I get for joining the waitlist?
- Early access before it's public, and the founding rate of ¥1,950 a month when your module opens.
- When does it launch?
- There isn’t a public date yet, and we’d rather say so than invent one. The waitlist is how the first group gets in, and you’ll get one email when it’s ready.
- How often will you email me?
- Rarely. One email when your module opens, and little else. Every email carries a one-click unsubscribe.
- What happens to my email address?
- It goes to Kit, our email provider, tagged with which page you signed up from — and nowhere else. It’s never sold or shared.
Be first in when it opens
Join the waitlist for early access and founding pricing. Module 01 opens first, so an interview already in the diary is the case this is ready for soonest.
One email when it launches. No spam, unsubscribe any time.