Takasuga Jō was a Japanese man who moved to Australia in 1905 with his family to start producing rice there. This story about his life in simple Japanese was written by the Japan Foundation Sydney for their students.
Author: The Japan Foundation, Sydney
Length: 109 pages, 9 chapters
Link: https://classroomresources.sydney.jpf.go.jp/3d-flip-book/7168/
With 9 chapters and 109 pages, this book is definitely among the most ambitious reading projects for beginners in Japanese. Every page is illustrated, and there are short summaries and additional context in English after each chapter, which really shows just how much work must have gone into it.
Furthermore, there is only few kanji with 100% furigana and even additional spacing between words, making the short and simple sentences very easy to read at the beginner stage.
While reading, I found it a bit of a shame that the Japanese text itself cannot reflect the more complex explanations due to the simple language. The story of this rice farmer in Australia and the numerous hurdles he has to face is quite interesting but without the additional English texts you are not quite getting the full story. I’m very interested to hear the opinions of beginner readers how it feels to switch languages like this!
This book is freely available at the Japan Foundation Sydney’s homepage. The link above will lead you directly to the flipbook, but if you are interested in the additional material that was kindly provided, please click this link instead: https://classroomresources.sydney.jpf.go.jp/resources/8136/
You can choose between a text only flipbook or a flipbook with additional audio files to read along with.
dokushoclub.com 