OJAD

OJAD is the Online Japanese Accent Dictionary from Minematsu Laboratory and Saito Laboratory at the University of Tokyo. The English 4-feature page, checked 1 Sep 2026, describes four tools: Word Search, Verb Suffix Search, Text Search, and Suzuki-kun, the prosody tutor.

The job is lookup and display. It is not a recording coach and not a minimal-pair quiz.

The four functions

Word Search looks up accent types for conjugated forms of declinable words that appear in Japanese textbooks. The official page says you can search a word, see the textbook unit where it first appears, and listen to or download speech samples. The English home and sidebar list textbook views that include Genki, Minna no Nihongo, Marugoto, and Japanese for Busy People. This profile does not state a textbook total.

Verb Suffix Search covers verb-plus-suffix expressions that Word Search does not, such as つくりたがらない, where the accent position changes. The how-to page says this mode uses natural language processing and is not 100% accurate.

Text Search accepts a Japanese sentence you type or paste. It extracts declinable words and shows accent types for the conjugated forms in that sentence. The how-to page says this also uses natural language processing and is not 100% accurate. It cannot output pitch contour or speech.

Suzuki-kun predicts and displays the accent-kernel position and a pitch contour for a sentence you enter. The 4-feature page says the contour assumes no strong focus on a particular word, and that it cannot handle cases such as the expression of surprise. Home-page notes from 2014 describe four voices, two male and two female, plus Normal, Slow, and Fast rates.

Word Search audio samples on the Before using page are the voices of Ueda Masako and Kato Hiroki, two professional Japanese voice actors.

Limits

OJAD will not hear you. If the bottleneck is whether you can tell two pitch patterns apart, use the tests on kotu.io. If you need a person on a recording, use Speechling.

Text Search and Verb Suffix Search are predicted. Do not treat a Suzuki-kun contour as a recording of a specific speaker in a specific context.

The Before using page says the dictionary was developed for academic research and educational purposes, and asks that the site not be used in for-profit ventures. Study Japanese 101 links to it as a reference. It does not wrap OJAD as a paid product.

Use the pronunciation and pitch-accent shortlist when you are choosing among lookup, ear training, and coaching.