What kind of baked goods will you find in a Japanese bakery? From anpan and meronpan, to yakisobapan, chokokorone and denisshupan, you're presented with a wide variety of pastries in this text by Nakagoshi Naomi and Asada Kaoru. There are definitely some peculiarities to find in a Japanese bakery. I was surprised at how thick… Continue reading [N4] 日本のパン屋（や）さん
Furukura Keiko doesn't really fit into societal standards, but as soon as she steps into her workplace - a smile mart chain convenience store - she is able to fulfill the role of a turning cog in society. I read this novel by Murata Sayaka as part of the 2022 target language reading challenge by… Continue reading [N2] コンビニ人間
This post is part of the #letsreadkaguyahime challenge. The fairy tale of Princess Kaguya for learners with N5 abilities was written by Yoshida Noriko for the Malaysia Books Tadoku project. What makes this retelling so special are the handmade origami figures by Ishibashi Naoko as well as the fact, that this story features no kanji.… Continue reading [N5] かぐやひめ
A girl from Russia endures the coldest time of the year, but her mother becomes sick. It is a long way to the next town, but she sets out to find a doctor amidst the heavy snow. This story was written by ディナ・クスヌリナ and her sister スヴェトラナ drew the cute illustrations. It was published on… Continue reading [N3] 少女とシロクマ
Are you interested in reading Japanese fairy tales? "Princess Kaguya" or "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter" tells the story of an otherwordly beautiful young woman, who was found inside bamboo as a baby. It is said to be the oldest fairy tale romance in Japan (about 900 AD). Let's read this story together! Whether… Continue reading Let’s read 「かぐやひめ」
Sakasa is a bat with large, black wings, who one day meets Minmi, a bat with smaller white wings. Both bats seem to be completely different from who they are and what they are used to. But maybe they can still trust and support each other… Sakasa and Minmi This story by Endo Kazuhiko tells… Continue reading [N4] 黒コウモリと白コウモリ
Are you familiar with the story of the dog, that waited every day for his owner at Shibuya station? That is the story of Hachi and it got rewritten by Matsuda Midori for learners to enjoy in easy Japanese. I personally mainly know Hachikō as the statue at Shibuya station and have never seen the… Continue reading [N5] ハチの話（はなし）
Graded readers are a helpful tool for language learners, providing shorter books specifically tailored to their current level of reading comprehension. The vocabulary, grammar, and length of the books are carefully selected to match the reader's proficiency and to make sure that they can follow the story without too much difficulty - sometimes even without… Continue reading Graded readers for Japanese – where to start
If you've been following news in Japanese over the last two years, you will likely be familiar with words like 感染(かんせん)、症状(しょうじょう) or 流行(りゅうこう)*. The Japanese article (by Katō Sanae) I'm reviewing today refers to a paper from Canada, that calculated the spread of music using the methods for viral infections - and therefore also the… Continue reading [N2] 感染症（かんせんしょう）と音楽の 類似点 （るいじてん）
Two hunters come across a restaurant in the forest. A sign on the door announces: This restaurant has many orders. With every door they pass through and every room they enter, the two slowly get an inkling of what this might mean... "The Restaurant of Many Orders" is a short story by Miyazawa Kenji from… Continue reading [N3] 注文(ちゅうもん)の多い料理店(りょうりてん)
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