Tokiwa Labo Japanese: Terms of Service Last updated: [EFFECTIVE DATE]
These terms are an agreement between you and [BUSINESS LEGAL NAME] ("we", "us"), which runs Tokiwa Labo Japanese (the "app") at learn-japanese.tokiwa-labo.com. By creating an account or starting a subscription, you agree to these terms and to our Privacy Policy and Refund and Cancellation Policy.
1. Who can use the app
- You must be at least 13 years old.
- If you are under the age of adulthood where you live (18 in Japan and most US states), a parent or guardian must agree to these terms and pay for the subscription.
- You need a valid email address or Google account to sign in. Keep access to it secure: anyone who can open your email can sign in to your account.
- One account is for one person. Don't share your account.
- Where the app is available. The app isn't available to people living in the European Union or the United Kingdom yet. We ask where you live before you subscribe. If a subscription is started with a billing address or card from one of those countries, we cancel it during the free trial, so nothing is charged, and email you to explain.
2. What you get
The app helps you study for the Japanese-Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) levels N5, N4 and N3 with vocabulary reviews, grammar lessons and drills, practice questions, audio, and progress tracking. We keep adding and improving content, and we may change, add or remove features. If we remove something central to the app while you have a paid subscription, we'll tell you in advance and you can cancel (see section 9 for refunds if we close the service).
3. Subscriptions, free trial and automatic renewal
Plans. We offer a monthly plan at $9 per month (¥1,400 in Japan) and a yearly plan at $79 per year (¥12,000 in Japan). Yen prices include Japanese consumption tax. The current price is always shown on the pricing page and at checkout, in the currency you'll be charged in. Payments are processed by Stripe.
Free trial. New subscribers get a 14-day free trial. You need to enter a payment card to start it. If you don't cancel before the trial ends, your card is charged automatically for the plan you chose (monthly or yearly) when the trial ends. We'll email you a reminder before the trial ends. You can have one free trial per person.
Automatic renewal. After the trial, your subscription renews automatically at the end of each billing period (each month or each year) and your card is charged the plan price at that time, until you cancel. For yearly plans we'll email you a reminder before each renewal.
Price changes. If we change the price of your plan, we'll email you before the new price applies to you, and you can cancel before it does. A price change never applies to a period you've already paid for.
Failed payments. If a payment fails, we (through Stripe) will retry it and email you. If it still fails, we may pause your access to study features until the payment is made. Your study progress is kept.
Taxes. Prices include any sales tax or consumption tax we are required to collect, unless the checkout page says otherwise. (verify with a 税理士: see docs/setup-stripe.md, "Tax points to confirm")
4. Cancelling
You can cancel at any time, online, from Settings → Manage subscription in the app. You don't need to email or call us.
- During the free trial: cancel before the trial ends and you won't be charged anything.
- After the trial: cancelling stops future renewals. You keep access until the end of the period you've already paid for, and you won't be charged again.
Refunds. We don't refund partial months. We refund a yearly charge in full if you ask within 14 days of it, and any charge if you ask within 7 days, forgot to cancel, and haven't used the app since the charge. Charges made by mistake are always refunded. Details are in our Refund and Cancellation Policy.
5. Acceptable use
Please don't:
- share your account, or resell or give others access to the app;
- copy, scrape, download in bulk, or republish the app's content (sentences, lessons, questions, explanations, audio), or use it to train AI models;
- try to break, overload, or get around the security or payment checks of the app;
- use the app for anything illegal.
We may suspend or close accounts that break these rules (see section 8).
6. Our content and AI-generated material
Who owns what. The app and its content are owned by us or our licensors. While your subscription is active, you may use the content for your own personal study. Some word-list data comes from third-party sources under open licenses; those sources and licenses are listed on our Credits page, and their licenses (not these terms) govern that data.
AI-generated content. Much of the study material (example sentences, lessons, drills, practice questions and explanations) is drafted with AI and then checked by a person before it is published. Audio is made with AI text-to-speech. We work hard to make it accurate, but it may still contain mistakes. If you spot one, please tell us at hello@tokiwa-labo.com.
A study aid, not a guarantee. The app is a study aid. We can't promise that you will pass the JLPT or reach any particular score. Our practice questions follow the JLPT's published formats but are not real test questions, and our word and grammar lists are our own selection: the JLPT has not published official lists since 2010.
Not affiliated with the JLPT. Tokiwa Labo Japanese is independent. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the Japan Foundation or Japan Educational Exchanges and Services (JEES), which run the JLPT. "JLPT" and "Japanese-Language Proficiency Test" are used only to describe what the app helps you study for.
7. Your data
How we collect and use your information is described in our Privacy Policy. Your study progress belongs to you; you can ask us for a copy or to delete it.
8. Ending your account
You can stop using the app at any time. To delete your account and data, [use Settings → Delete account / email us at hello@tokiwa-labo.com]. Deleting your account doesn't automatically cancel a subscription in progress, so cancel first. (verify: make account deletion also cancel the Stripe subscription, then remove this sentence)
We may suspend or close your account if you seriously or repeatedly break these terms, if we have to by law, or to protect other users or the service. Unless the situation is urgent or the law prevents it, we'll tell you first and give you a chance to fix the problem. If we close your account and you didn't break these terms, we'll refund the unused part of any period you've paid for.
If we shut down the app, we'll give you at least [30] days' notice by email and refund the unused part of any period you've paid for.
9. Disclaimers and limits on our liability
- We provide the app "as is". We'll make reasonable efforts to keep it running and accurate, but we can't promise it will always be available, error-free, or suitable for your particular goals.
- To the extent the law allows, our total liability to you for any claim about the app is limited to the amount you paid us in the 12 months before the claim.
- We aren't liable for indirect or unforeseeable losses (for example, lost opportunities or exam fees).
- These limits do not apply to harm caused by our intentional misconduct or gross negligence, to death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or to anything else that the law where you live doesn't allow us to limit. If you are a consumer, you keep every right that consumer law in your country or state gives you and that can't be waived by contract.
10. Changes to these terms
We may update these terms, for example when we add features or the law changes. For changes that matter to you, we'll email you and show a notice in the app at least [30] days before they take effect, along with the effective date. If you don't agree, you can cancel before then. Changes won't apply retroactively.
11. Governing law and disputes
These terms are governed by the laws of Japan. Any dispute will be handled by the [COURT / VENUE, e.g. "Tokyo District Court"], except that if you are a consumer, you can also bring a claim in the courts where you live, and the mandatory consumer protection laws of your country or state still apply to you.
Before going to court, please email us at hello@tokiwa-labo.com so we can try to sort it out.
12. Contact
[BUSINESS LEGAL NAME] [BUSINESS ADDRESS, or "Address available on request; see our 特定商取引法に基づく表記 page"] Email: hello@tokiwa-labo.com