Japanese Reading Practice: 20+ Fun Resources for Beginners

When you are learning to read Japanese content, selecting a topic you find interesting is essential. You might also consider experimenting with different materials to encounter a wider range of vocabulary.

Fortunately, there is no shortage of Japanese material for beginners who wish to practice reading. So, let's jump right in and explore the fantastic world of Japanese reading resources.

Japanese Reading Practice with News

Reading the news in Japanese is an excellent method to learn about events in Japan and around the globe. Many news stories from Japan include local reports that provide insight into everyday life in the country.

NHK News Web Easy

News Web Easy is a free news service provided by Japan’s public broadcaster, NHK. The material is delivered in short paragraphs using straightforward sentences. All kanji come with furigana (hiragana placed above kanji) for extra support.

In addition to current news articles, you can listen to the audio of the news being read aloud for supplementary listening practice. If just audio is too challenging, subtitled videos are also offered.

News in Slow Japanese

News in Slow Japanese features a range of current news and general information about Japan. Every post consists of a few brief paragraphs.

If a sentence or phrase is unclear, you can hover your mouse over the text to see more details. The articles are also provided in romaji and plain text without any additional aids.

Each post comes with a vocabulary list and audio of slowly spoken Japanese for additional study practice.

Besides reading and listening to the news in slow Japanese, there is a supplementary podcast that presents a faster audio version of the story.

Japanese Reading Practice Materials for Comic Fans

If you enjoy anime, you might be interested in reading the original source material. Numerous popular shows began as manga series that became so beloved they were adapted for television or film.

Reading manga can help you learn grammar, and in children's stories, kanji is typically accompanied by furigana.

“Dragon Ball” by Akira Toriyama

“Dragon Ball” is a long-running manga series from Akira Toriyama. The main character, Goku, starts as a young, innocent child and matures into a powerful man with a strong desire to protect his home, Earth.

The “Dragon Ball” series is great for beginners because it provides a compelling story along with a simple writing style and clean artwork that is easy to follow. In the early part of the series, Goku speaks in basic terms as a child discovering life on Earth. All the kanji include furigana.

“Sailor Moon” by Naoko Takeuchi

“Sailor Moon” is a magical story about a group of teenage girls by Naoko Takeuchi. Usagi Tsukino begins as a childish schoolgirl, but as she discovers more about her past, she evolves into a powerful warrior fighting for the fate of the galaxy.

The story is already finished, and readers can easily purchase the entire series. There is a variety of characters, which will help you learn different dialects and slang. Since the characters are young, their speech is more straightforward for beginners and includes furigana.

“Doraemon” by Fujiko Fujio

“Doraemon” by Fujiko Fujio features a cat-like robot from the future who travels to the present. Doraemon’s mission is to assist Nobita, a young, clumsy elementary school student. Doraemon uses his futuristic gadgets to help Nobita in his daily life, but there are often amusing outcomes.

“Doraemon” has become so popular that the main character can be seen almost everywhere in Japan. The manga has been published for years and includes stories with moral lessons suitable for all ages.

It was written for young children around Nobita’s age, making it easier for beginner Japanese readers to comprehend. The dialogue uses simple sentence structures and includes furigana.

“Shirokuma Cafe” by Aloha Higa

“Shirokuma Cafe” by Aloha Higa features animals as the main characters. In this manga series, animals and humans live together at a local cafe.

The manga contains simple sentences, but there is a lot to learn. Throughout the series, there are cultural lessons about various kinds of drinks, sweet treats, and animals that visit the cafe.

All the typed dialogue includes furigana, but additional text, such as handwritten thoughts by the artist, does not have reading aids. Beginners can try focusing only on reading the speech first and then tackle the more advanced content later.

“Yotsubato&!” by Kiyohiko Azuma

“Yotsubato&!” is a manga series by Kiyohiko Azuma and is the only entry on this list that was not adapted into an anime series. The only way to experience the joy of the curious Yotsuba Koiwai is through the manga series. Each story focuses on “Yotsuba and,” or Yotsuba and her new adventures.

“Yotsubato&!” is excellent for beginner to intermediate readers. While five-year-old Yotsuba speaks like a child, her adoptive father and his friends might use some words that are unfamiliar to readers just starting out. All kanji is accompanied by furigana.

Japanese Reading Practice with Children’s Stories

Reading children’s stories is a fantastic way to practice Japanese. They are usually stories you might already know, like fables or fairy tales.

These stories are typically short and use simple sentence structures. Similar to learning stories in English, they range from simple tales to more complex narratives with advanced grammar and kanji.

White Rabbit Press

One of the best places to find graded readers, White Rabbit Press provides Japanese readers at various levels.

The simplest story for Level 0 readers is “The Ant and the Grasshopper,” while the easiest option for Level 1 readers is “The Birds, the Beasts and the Bat,” a retelling of an Aesop fable. Another Level 1 story featured on the site is “The Three Little Pigs,” which many people will recall from their childhood.

These stories are directly accessible in the White Rabbit Press Japanese Graded Readers app, but a brief summary of each story and its learning level is listed on the website. The app is available for iOS and Android devices.

These Japanese graded readers offer several advantages. The text is easy to read, and the sentences are short, with limited grammar and vocabulary. All the kanji is accompanied by furigana, but you will have learned most of them during your early kanji studies.

In addition to reading the text, there are corresponding images and audio, all of which are high-quality. The audio is recorded by a professional voice cast.

Nihon no Mukashibanashi

Japanese folklore not only offers stories rich with history but also aids in learning the language. The stories are often a single paragraph and use simple sentences.

Nihon no Mukashibanashi, a Japanese folktale website managed by the International Digital EHON Association, contains around 30 stories that Japanese children grow up reading.

You can read the stories by clicking “Back” and “Next” beside each picture to navigate through the pages.

One difficulty with using the website is that the text does not include furigana for the kanji. However, most of the kanji ranges from beginner to intermediate level. If a kanji character completely confuses you, you can copy and paste it into an online dictionary like Jisho for the definition.

Some of the simpler stories you can begin with include:

• “Urashima Taro” — A young man who has an underwater adventure.
• “Sun and Moon” — A tale about the origins of the sun and moon.

Bom Bom Academy YouTube channel

Who said all your reading practice must be done with books? There are YouTube channels available with stories for children in simple Japanese that include subtitles you can read.

For example, the Bom Bom Academy YouTube channel features a variety of content specifically made for children. Their fairy tale videos are animated and include Japanese subtitles.

If the audio distracts from reading the subtitles, you can simply mute the video. Alternatively, the Japanese audio can also serve as listening practice.

Start your Japanese reading practice with the following classic stories:

“Cinderella”

“Snow White”

“The Three Little Pigs”

Japanese Reading Practice with Novels

To make it much simpler to find the right Japanese novel for you, I have ranked them by difficulty. This means the first few books listed are simple and short enough for beginners, and the last books on the list are more complex and better suited for advanced learners.

If you are unsure of your level, simply select a book and click “Look Inside” near the cover to view a preview of the novel wherever it is available. Ideally, you want to find a book that is not too difficult but also not too easy.

Check out these great books!

“nekomaki1” by ms-work

This charming little novel is the first in the “nekomaki” series. It is ideal for beginner learners because it primarily uses hiragana characters and a few of the most common kanji characters.

While “nekomaki” looks like a children’s book, it is definitely more of an adult comic series, complete with amusing illustrations and easy-to-read dialogue.

“Goodnight, Panda!” by Babl Books

“Goodnight, Panda!” is a children’s book with simple hiragana and katakana that is suitable for Japanese children and new Japanese learners alike.

This cute little book follows the life of Panda, who lives in a zoo. He does not want to go to bed, so he hides among other black and white zoo animals to avoid bedtime.

“Goodnight, Panda!” uses parallel text that features both English and Japanese, making it the perfect book for new learners to try.

“I Am a Cat” by Sōseki Natsume

Yes, another Japanese cat novel. You can never go wrong with cats! “I Am a Cat” is the story of a housecat living in Japan's Meiji period. It is quite a humorous take on how humans live their lives and what our pets might think of us.

This novel is a classic in Japan. It was written in 1905 but remains satirically relevant today. We would recommend this book to beginners and perhaps intermediate learners who want to do some light reading.

“Kokoro” by Sōseki Natsume

A short book typically read by high school students, “Kokoro” is a 1914 novel about a young man and his teacher during the transition from the Meiji era to the modern era. The book’s themes explore guilt, egotism, identity, and family values.

The language starts to become more difficult here, as Sōseki was known for his beautiful and lyrical writing.

There is no “Look Inside” option for this book, but you can find a very useful breakdown of the book’s first few sections over on the Sōseki Project. Hover over any underlined word to see its definition or press play to hear an audio recording of the reading.

The study guide for each section breaks it down even further into key vocabulary words and a rough translation. It is an excellent resource for learners!

“Spirited Away” by Hayao Miyazaki

If you have seen the Studio Ghibli film “Spirited Away,” then you will love this written adaptation of the film!

In the story, a young girl named Chihiro has to move to a new home. But on the car ride there, her parents are swept away by spirits and turned into pigs. Chihiro must find a way to save her parents from being eaten while working at the famous spirit bathhouse in the center of town.

“Spirited Away” is a pictorial comic-style novel with fairly complex kanji and hiragana, though all kanji have furigana captions for beginners and intermediate learners.

“Ukurou Syurowatarinomaki Ehon” by Matsuzaki Naotoshi

In this charming little book, we meet Koukiro, a rabbit-owl spirit who has fun at night when everyone else is asleep. It is a bit spooky, but mostly it is whimsical and adorable.

This is a great book for Japanese learners to practice their kana and pronunciation. Most of the dialogue is in either hiragana or katakana, and each page is brief, so all levels of learners may be able to handle this one. Absolute beginners might find it just a little too challenging.

“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” by J.K. Rowling

This is simply the Japanese adaptation of the first book in the famous “Harry Potter” series.

Even though it is technically a children’s book, the kanji and kana used are too difficult for most beginners, making it a good choice for intermediate learners.

“Kitchen” by Banana Yoshimoto

“Kitchen” tells the stories of two mothers and explores the themes of love and tragedy. It does so by examining the power of the home’s kitchen in terms of family and growth.

If you want to read something that explains grief and loss beautifully, check out this great intermediate-level book.

“Norwegian Wood” by Haruki Murakami

Forewarning: This is a tough read that is definitely only for adults. Even then, some adults may not be able to handle how intense and sad this book is. However, this is an incredibly beautiful book and a classic in Japan.

In “Norwegian Wood,” a young man must choose between the love of his youth, who is the troubled and grief-stricken girlfriend of his deceased best friend, and another woman who is basically her polar opposite.

It is an incredible look into what life was like in 1960s Japan and explores themes of awakening, death, trauma, love, and youth.

This novel is very dense and contains a lot of difficult kanji, so advanced learners will likely benefit the most from reading it.

Reading Practice Materials to Learn About Japanese Culture

Interested in learning more about how the people of Japan live beyond what is on TV? There are excellent resources for beginners to read about Japanese culture and discover exciting facts about daily life in this vibrant country.

Matcha

Matcha, a web magazine, is similar to NHK News Easy, as it contains posts that are easy to read with simple grammar.

The content on this site focuses on different cultural aspects of Japanese life, such as current trends. All the kanji includes furigana.

The posts are longer than what you would find on other sites but are divided into sections for easier reading.

Wa Tanoshii

Wa Tanoshii, or Fun, is another online magazine that covers a variety of topics including food, animals, and festivals. The articles are written by various users eager to share their personal experiences in Japan.

The articles are all written in simple Japanese. The content is also sortable by N5-N1 levels, and the article titles themselves have the N-level included. Hover your mouse over any of the underlined phrases, and you will learn the definition of the word and get access to grammar explanations.

Nippon Talk

Nippon Talk is a site that covers more general topics about life in Japan. Their posts address subjects like parenting, doing laundry, and carrying out everyday tasks, but the content may interest those who want to know more about the Japanese lifestyle.

Each article is written in short paragraphs with slightly longer sentences than what you will find in posts from the other sites on our list.

All the kanji includes furigana, but the English translation is placed directly beneath each paragraph. While reading the content in Japanese, challenge yourself not to peek at the English translation until you have fully read the passage.

Japanese Reading Practice with Gaming Apps

Video games can be used for both entertainment and learning, and there is science to support this.

Most mobile games include different language options you can use to your advantage. While many may be too advanced for most users, below is a list of some fun games that can double as reading practice for beginners.

Neko Atsume: Kitty Collector

Available: iOS | Android

Neko Atsume: Kitty Collector by Hit-Point is a cat collecting game available for both iOS and Android devices. There is not much gameplay, but the animated cats are adorable to watch. Set out different types of food or toys, and cats will appear the next time you start the app.

The game has two language settings: Japanese and English. There is minimal Japanese in the app, which will help you avoid feeling overwhelmed in your daily learning routine.

Also, the cats’ names are written in hiragana and katakana, which can help you learn to read foreign words spelled using katakana characters.

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp

Available: iOS | Android

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp is the first mobile game for the long-running Animal Crossing series by Nintendo. As the leader of the camp, you are in charge of helping animals and decorating the campsite.

Fans of the video game version of Animal Crossing can experience a slightly different game, as it varies from its North American counterpart. For example, some of the animals have different names.

The Japanese is written in simple sentences, but the kanji does not include furigana. This game would be best for those looking for slightly more challenging content, but it is still simple enough for beginner or younger players as well.

LINE Brown Farm

Available: iOS | Android

LINE is not just one of the most popular mobile messaging apps in Japan. The company has also released several games related to their famous characters.

LINE Brown Farm is a mobile game starring one of their most popular characters, Brown, a bear. Brown has to rebuild a farm and make it successful by planting various vegetables and raising animals.

Similar to the previous game, the kanji does not include furigana, but it is simple enough for at least N5 learners. That means you will need some experience with grammar to understand the dialogue.

LINE Brown Farm also broadens your vocabulary with a variety of vegetable and animal names.

Bonus Japanese Reading Practice Materials to Test Your Language Skills

Are you ready to level up your Japanese reading practice with more challenging content? Here are some more materials for you to explore and decide if you are ready to move on to intermediate reading resources or if you need more time learning the basics.

Video Games for Younger Players

If you are not interested in playing mobile games, try practicing Japanese with video games on other platforms. Nintendo offers a vast library of games, and many of them support multiple languages.

A great place to start is with the Nintendo Switch. Games for younger players have simpler sentences that are easier for beginners to understand.

Though not all the kanji in the games includes furigana, they range from beginner to intermediate level. Do not be afraid to pause the game to look up the meaning of a confusing kanji. You will learn more about the word within the context of the game.

A few video game titles to try out include:

• “Pokémon: Let’s Go Pikachu!” — A side game to the main series that also includes elements from the animated series.
• “Luigi’s Mansion 3” — A ghost hunting game starring Mario’s brother.
• “The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening” — A game starring series protagonist Link and his adventures on Koholint Island.

Anime with Japanese Subtitles

If you are a fan of anime, you can try watching it with subtitles to get in extra reading practice. Of course, instead of using English subtitles, try using Japanese subtitles. That way, you can practice your reading skills and listening comprehension.

Start with anime targeted toward younger viewers like “Crayon Shin-chan,” a comedy show about a mischievous young boy and his family. If you find the humor in “Crayon Shin-chan” (which can be inappropriate at times) is not what you are looking for, “Chi’s Sweet Home” is a child-friendly tale about an adorable stray kitten who learns how to adapt to indoor life after being adopted by a family.

You can also learn with anime clips on the Lingflix program, which teaches Japanese through authentic videos that also include clips from movies and series, funny commercials, news segments, and other media that native speakers watch.

With Lingflix, you can also create multimedia flashcards for any new words you encounter as you watch. An app like this can be helpful for anyone who wants to learn Japanese through videos.

NHK for School

NHK offers a variety of resources for all levels of Japanese language learners. Another helpful resource for beginners is NHK for School, which contains TV programs and other short videos. Each video is divided into different parts with a transcript.

Unlike NHK Easy News, this content does not contain furigana, but the kanji is N5 level, making it easy enough for most beginners. Their videos also double as listening practice.

I suggest starting with the folklore tales such as “Momotaro” or the elementary-level videos under TV Programs.

Hukumusume

This website admittedly looks intimidating when you first land on the homepage. Activate that furigana app or pop-up reader to navigate with the kanji—or you can click aimlessly until you stumble across a story. The story categories include 日本の有名な話 (Japan’s Famous Stories) and, my personal favorite, 日本のこわい話 (Japan’s Ghost Stories).

The hundreds of stories featured here have minimal kanji and lots of helpful audio accompaniments. Read the story first, then listen and read along!

World of チョコチョコ (Chokochoko)

Above, I have linked you directly to a small but excellent collection of Japanese beginner’s stories. They come in neatly-written PDFs you can download for free and take along with you for on-the-go reading practice. These are also great for printing, reading, and marking up on paper. When you are ready to level up, Chokochoko has you covered for all other reading levels as well.

Yahoo!きっず (Yahoo! Kids)

You probably explored Yahoo Kids when first learning about the internet (unless you were born after 2000). It is fun, colorful, and appeals to your inner child with nostalgic topics like ポケモン (pokémon) and ディズニー (Disney).

Why Reading Practice is Essential for Learning Japanese

Reading is a fundamental part of learning any language. Even if your only goal is to speak Japanese, there will come a time when you need to read something in your target language.

Practicing reading Japanese materials does not have to be a chore. There is a variety of content to choose from, no matter what your interests are. Reading also has significant benefits for your health, like reducing stress and expanding your vocabulary.

Plus, seeing those hard-to-learn kanji in context will help you remember them faster.

What better way to double up your Japanese language learning than to practice reading daily? With so many materials to choose from, you can also learn about Japanese history, culture, and customs while studying the language.

Learning the Japanese language is challenging, but it is important not to give up.

The more content you challenge yourself to read, the more you will learn. Make the process easier by selecting the Japanese reading materials that interest you the most.

As you continue your language learning journey, you will end up reading more difficult content that you did not even know was possible before.