Japanese culture is trending among Gen Z, and language learning apps are catching up.
Apps like Pingo AI went viral in the past few months by posting “Japanese learning” videos.
Realizing the opportunity in this demand, Hanashi chose a clear angle, launching as an app that only teaches Japanese.
Launched in June, Hanashi is now at $8K MRR, with 15,000 monthly downloads on Android and iOS.
Monetization is simple: a premium auto-renewing subscription.
Users try a few lessons, then hit a paywall. It charges $14.99 per month or $99.99 per year.
Hanashi was founded by Eion, an Irish builder who moved to Tokyo in early 2025.
He made Hanashi after ChatGPT kept interrupting him and losing the thread.
Distribution is 100% reliant on TikTok.
They are running eight accounts and have collected a total of 3 million views since May.
The top account is tokyo.hanashi.
It took the viral “Why is Japanese so hard” format, and added a twist. They kept the video faceless, and recorded the app roasting the user’s Japanese.
They also renamed Japanese to “Japanknees”, to farm engagement.
“Why is Japanknees so hard!?” 700K views / October 7
“Why is Japaknees so hard !?” 300K views / October 10
Eoin also posted a longer headshot video with app picks for beginners, claiming that Hanashi was the one that finally got him speaking.
That video drove almost 9K bookmarks.
Back in June, studyjp.me did a faceless slideshow rating three apps.
It hit almost 300K views and 30K bookmarks, which helped build trust.
“Rating Japanese learning apps for beginners>>“
They also tapped on the “Mad Sora Professor” trend we covered two weeks ago, and that keeps going viral for countless study apps these days.
“yo why is my japanese teacher crashing out on us” 212K / Oct. 18
“yo why did our japanese teacher go so hard” 171K / Oct. 18
Hanashi got to $8K by studying what works in its niche, riding trends, and adding its own touch.
We’ll keep you posted on their progress. Meanwhile, you can access all accounts and videos here: https://app.shortimize.com/c/2b10kZLCN60sOV
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