Terms of Use

1. Acceptance & operator

These Terms of Use (“Terms”) are an agreement between you and Shinobasa (sole proprietorship, representative: Shimba Saruta; Shibuya Dogenzaka Tokyu Building 2F-C, 1-10-8 Dogenzaka, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0043, Japan; moshibary@gmail.com) — “we”, “us”, “our”.

They govern your use of the Moshibary mobile application and the website moshibary.com (together, the “Service”). By creating an account, ticking the acceptance box, or using the Service, you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the Service.

2. The Service

Moshibary is a Japanese-language learning app: stories, vocabulary and phrase study, kanji practice, quizzes, audio and review tools. The Service is provided for personal, educational purposes.

We may display optional rewarded ads through Google AdMob. An ad begins only when you choose to watch it, and viewing it may grant in-app points, items, or another stated reward. We do not display forced banner or interstitial ads. Data associated with advertising is handled as described in the Privacy Policy.

Learning content prioritizes natural, commonly used contemporary Japanese and practical usage over exhaustive prescriptive grammar. Japanese varies by region, generation, relationship, setting, and speaker, and explanations may be simplified for learners. Content may therefore differ from textbooks, examination rubrics, academic descriptions, professional style guides, or highly formal contexts. The Service does not claim that every explanation is exhaustive or universally applicable. For exam-standard answers, academic analysis, professional translation, or wording used in legal, medical, or important business matters, use authoritative sources or qualified instruction alongside the Service. We do not guarantee exam results or proficiency outcomes.

3. Eligibility & accounts

• You must be at least 13 years old to use the Service. If your country sets a higher minimum age for consenting to data processing, you must meet that age or have parental consent.
• You can use the app in guest mode without an account; guest data is stored only on your device.
• If you create an account (email, or Apple/Google sign-in), keep your credentials secure. You are responsible for activity under your account. Tell us promptly if you suspect unauthorized use.
• Provide accurate information and keep it up to date.
• If you are under the age of legal majority where you live, you must have permission from a parent or legal guardian where required by applicable law.

4. License & acceptable use

We grant you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to use the Service for your own learning. You agree not to:

• copy, redistribute, sell, rent, or publicly provide the Service or its content (stories, audio, illustrations, word data) outside the app;
• reverse engineer, decompile, or attempt to extract source code or datasets, except where the law expressly permits it;
• scrape, mass-download, or access the Service by automated means;
• interfere with the Service's operation or security, probe or overload our infrastructure, or bypass usage limits or paywalls;
• use the Service for anything unlawful, or infringe the rights of others;
• impersonate others or misrepresent your affiliation with us.

5. Your content

Features such as custom words, custom decks and notes let you create content. It remains yours. So that the Service can work, you grant us a limited, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, process, back up and display that content to you (and, if you use a future sharing feature, to the users you share it with). This license ends when your content or account is deleted, except for lawful backups that expire on schedule.

If public sharing features are offered, you are responsible for what you share; we may remove content that is unlawful or violates these Terms.

6. Purchases & subscriptions

• Downloading Moshibary is free. The availability and limits of free features may change as the Service develops.
• Moshibary Premium is an optional auto-renewing subscription. Monthly and annual plans may be offered. The exact price, billing period, included benefits, currency, taxes, and any introductory offer are displayed in the app and on the store purchase-confirmation screen before you agree to pay.
• Prices may differ by country or region because Apple and Google use local storefronts, currencies, tax treatment, and regional pricing. The price shown by your storefront immediately before purchase is the official price that applies to you.
• If a free trial or promotional offer is available, its eligibility, duration, renewal price, and expiration are shown before confirmation. Unless you cancel before the stated deadline, the subscription may automatically convert to a paid plan and renew.
• Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled through your App Store or Google Play account before the renewal deadline shown by the store. After cancellation, Premium normally remains available until the end of the paid period.
• Payments and refunds are handled by Apple or Google under the applicable store rules, subject to any mandatory consumer rights in your country. We do not receive your full card details.
• The app provides a restore-purchases function where required by the relevant store.
• Virtual items, points, or rewards have no cash value and cannot be exchanged for money unless applicable law requires otherwise.

7. Intellectual property & credits

The Service — including the Moshibary name, the character “Moshi”, the app, website, stories, audio recordings, illustrations and word data — is owned by us or our licensors and protected by copyright, trademark and other laws. No rights are granted except the license in Section 4.

Third-party credits: kanji stroke-order data is based on KanjiVG © Ulrich Apel and used under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 license. Where stroke data is adapted, the relevant derivative data is handled under the same license. See the Third-Party Notices.

8. Disclaimers

The Service is provided “as is” and “as available”. To the maximum extent permitted by law, we disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or that content is complete or suits your specific goals. Nothing in this section limits warranties or remedies that applicable consumer law does not allow to be excluded.

9. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law: we are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or loss of data, profits or goodwill, arising from your use of (or inability to use) the Service; and our total liability for any claim is limited to the greater of (a) the amount you paid us for the Service in the 12 months before the event giving rise to the claim, or (b) 5,000 JPY.

These limits do not apply to liability that cannot be limited by law, including liability arising from our willful misconduct or gross negligence, and they do not affect your statutory rights as a consumer.

10. Termination & changes to the Service

• You may stop using the Service at any time and may delete your account in the app (Settings → Account → Delete account).
• We may suspend or terminate accounts that materially violate these Terms, or where required by law. Where reasonable, we will warn you first.
• If we ever discontinue the Service entirely, we will provide reasonable advance notice where practicable and, where technically and legally feasible, a way to retrieve or export eligible account data.

11. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms as the Service evolves. The date at the top always shows the current version. For material changes we will notify you in the app or by email before they take effect; continuing to use the Service after that date means you accept the updated Terms. If you do not agree, stop using the Service and delete your account.

12. Governing law & disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of Japan, excluding its conflict-of-law rules. The Tokyo District Court shall have exclusive jurisdiction in the first instance for disputes arising from the Service — provided that, if you are a consumer, this does not deprive you of the protection of mandatory consumer-protection rules, or of access to the courts, of your country of residence.

Before going to court, we'd genuinely appreciate the chance to fix things: contact us and we will try to resolve any issue quickly and fairly.

13. App Store & Google Play terms

If you downloaded the app from Apple's App Store, you acknowledge that: these Terms are between you and us, not Apple; Apple has no obligation to provide maintenance or support for the app; in case of the app's failure to conform to an applicable warranty, you may notify Apple and Apple may refund the purchase price (if any) — to the maximum extent permitted by law, Apple has no other warranty obligation; Apple is not responsible for addressing claims relating to the app (including product liability, legal compliance and IP claims); and Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms, entitled to enforce them against you.

You represent that you are not located in a country subject to a U.S. Government embargo and are not on any U.S. Government list of prohibited or restricted parties. Equivalent provisions apply to Google Play where applicable, per Google Play's Terms of Service.

14. Contact

• Email: moshibary@gmail.com
• Post: Shinobasa, Shibuya Dogenzaka Tokyu Building 2F-C, 1-10-8 Dogenzaka, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0043, Japan