Playing KanColle Without Japanese

KanColle's in-game text is in Japanese, but you don't need to read Japanese to play it well. You need three things: the dozen menu words, the two battle prompts (the only place a misclick can sink a ship), and enough vocabulary to read quest text and the Japanese wiki's routing tables.

This page covers the third part — the words that show up again and again in quests and on the wiki — so you can use the most detailed sources even with a browser translator.

1. 1Learn the home-port buttons and the battle prompts from UI Translation. Remember: Retreat (撤退) is on the right, but “Don't pursue” (追撃せず) is on the left.
2. 2Learn to spot 大破 (heavy damage). Never advance with a heavily damaged ship unless it carries Damage Control. See Heavy Damage.
3. 3Use the word lists below to read quests and routing tables. A browser translator handles the rest of a wiki page reasonably well; these are the terms it most often gets wrong.
4. 4Voice lines and story text are optional — you can enjoy them later, but nothing in daily play depends on them.

Is a browser translator good enough for the wiki?

For explanations, mostly yes. For routing tables and quest conditions, check the key words against the lists here — small words like 以上 and 未満 change the meaning completely.

Which Japanese words matter most for safety?

大破 (heavy damage), 撤退 (retreat), 進撃 (advance), 追撃せず (don't pursue) and 夜戦突入 (enter night battle).

Where should I start as a new player?

See Your First Week.