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Awesome Japanese Awesome

A curated list of Japanese language learning resources.

Contents

How To Use These Resources

Indicator Description
πŸ‘Ά beginner
πŸ‘¨ intermediate
πŸ‘΄ advanced
πŸ“± mobile app
πŸ’» computer software
πŸ“‘ browser extension
πŸ‡―πŸ‡΅ Japanese UI only
πŸ—Ύ Japan IP restricted
πŸ’° costs money
⚠️ warning
πŸ“– book
πŸ“‡ Anki deck
πŸ€– generative AI

Beginner Guide

New to Japanese? Start here!

  1. All beginners should start with one of the guides below (the top two are the best in my personal opinion).
  • Starter's Guide - From /r/learnjapanese subreddit.
  • DJT guide - A well-written guide.
  • Grammar Guide to Japanese - By Tae Kim (Note: Tae Kim also has a "Complete Guide to Japanese", which is a work in progress).
  • The Moe Way - Fundamentals guide plus setup walkthroughs for immersion tools like visual novel text hooks.

  1. A summary of the guides is basically this: first, learn hiragana and katakana using the links in the Hiragana and Katakana section further down this page. The Tofugu links are a good starting place.

  2. Next is grammar/vocabulary. You can either use a structured textbook or a more free-form online grammar guide like Tae Kim. Either one works, try one or both and stick with the one you like the best.

For vocabulary, three nice options are Wanikani, Memrise, and Anki. If you go with the Anki route, consider a deck that displays sentences on the front rather than single words, as this will force you to learn words in context.

For translation, try to avoid Google Translate. Instead choose one from the Dictionary list.

  1. That's it. There are many, many paths to learning Japanese. The most important thing is to choose the one you enjoy. If you don't enjoy your study, you won't succeed, so keep searching until you find the resource or study method that you enjoy. Look through all the resources below, ask someone if you need help, and good luck.

Textbook

Textbooks provide you with structured learning material.

Genki

Everyone's favorite Japanese textbook. Recommended for beginners. Description: The second edition of the most highly regarded teaching textbook on the Japanese language, covering speaking, listening, reading, and writing to cultivate overall language ability. Each lesson in the revised edition features a new section dubbed "Culture Notes", and now includes the audio CD companion which is in mp3 format ready to install on any music player. In Japanese/English.

Tobira

The "Tobira" textbook combines the practice of all four language skills (reading, listening, writing, speaking) and is designed for use by students who have completed a beginner level Japanese textbook, or in terms of classroom time, have taken somewhere between 250 to 300 hours of Japanese study. The primary goals of this textbook are to solidify the grammar, vocabulary and kanji foundation studied during the beginner level and to develop all 4 language skills. What makes this book unique is that you can learn Japanese using multimedia in addition to the textbook.

Minna no Nihongo

Similarly to Tobira, Minna no Nihongo is intended for intermediate-level students.

Quartet

The natural successor to beginner textbooks like Genki, Quartet develops all four language skills (reading, writing, speaking, listening) across two volumes, progressing from JLPT N3 in Volume 1 to N2 in Volume 2. Downloadable resources and a companion Vocab & Kanji app are available.

Other textbooks

Google Drive A | B - contains links to many textbooks such as Japanese for Busy People, Japanese - The Manga Way, and An Integrated Approach to Intermediate Japanese. Additionally, it also includes some reading resources such as Yotsubato, and some listening material.

Course

Hiragana and Katakana

Alphabet of Japanese language.

Kanji

  • Hacking Kanji - Guide: 2,200 Kanji in 97 Days.
  • Kanji Koohii - Help you complete the kanji learning method called Remembering the Kanji.
  • Kanji Damage - A Kanji learning method.
  • Wanikani - Kanji learning platform πŸ’°.
  • Anki Deck
  • Kanji alive - Kanji study tool created by the University of Chicago.
  • Kanjipedia - Kanji search site operated by the Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation πŸ‡―πŸ‡΅.
  • Kakijun - Help you find the stroke order of a kanji πŸ‡―πŸ‡΅.
  • The Kanji Map - Explore kanji decomposition as an interactive graph.
  • KanjiDraw - Kanji practice app with stroke-order puzzles, gamified drawing, and a draw-to-search dictionary πŸ‘Ά.
  • WaniAnki - WaniKani companion for reviewing kanji, vocab, and radicals; custom decks, filters, and quizzes πŸ“± πŸ’».

Vocabulary

  • Anki - Popular flashcard based software πŸ“± πŸ’».
  • Memrise - Popular online/app flashcard platform πŸ“±.
  • jpdb - Powerful Japanese dictionary and all-in-one learning system for kanji and vocabulary.
  • Japanese Number Converter - Convert numbers between kanji, hiragana, and romaji.
  • SakeSaySo - Japanese-English dictionary app with SRS flashcards, daily news translations, and offline support πŸ“±.
  • hifumi - A flashcards companion app tailored for Minna no Nihongo ShokyΕ« I & II textbooks (sources) πŸ“± πŸ’».
  • Pokelingo - Daily puzzle: read a PokΓ©dex entry in Japanese and guess the PokΓ©mon; all 1,025 names in katakana πŸ“± πŸ‘Ά.
  • KaChiKa JA - AI photo-to-vocabulary app with example sentences and FSRS review; images stored on-device πŸ“± πŸ’° πŸ€–.
  • WordMeadow - Visual Japanese vocabulary theme cards grouped by everyday topics πŸ’» πŸ‘Ά.

Grammar

Reading

  • NHK Easy News - News for elementary, middle school, and foreigners with audio and video πŸ‘Ά.
  • θͺ­γΏη‰©γ„っぱい - Reading materials for elementary learners πŸ‘Ά.
  • Tadoku - Illustrated books for elementary learners. Some books require purchase πŸ‘Ά πŸ’°.
  • 青空文庫 - Japanese digital library with thousands of public-domain fiction and non-fiction works πŸ‘΄.
  • Japanese Folktales - Classic folktales with drawings and audio πŸ‡―πŸ‡΅.
  • Kyoko Shinbun - Fake Japanese News (similar to The Onion), podcast available πŸ“± πŸ‡―πŸ‡΅ πŸ‘΄.
  • Japanese in Anime & Manga - Learn Japanese from anime and manga.
  • Satori Reader - Japanese reading and listening practice, first two chapters of each article is free πŸ’°.
  • Japanese IO - Learn Japanese through fun and easy reading practice πŸ‘΄.
  • PressReader - Read 毎ζ—₯ζ–°θž (Mainichi Shinbun) and other Japanese publications free through many US libraries β€” check yours, or sign in with a library card. Paid plan otherwise πŸ‘΄ πŸ’°.
  • ImaWakatta - Stories with professional native audio and line-by-line highlighting; 4 free stories πŸ‘Ά πŸ’°.
  • LearnNatively - Community grades books, movies, and shows by proficiency level so you find content at your level.
  • Manabi Reader - Web/RSS/EPUB reader with word lookup, vocab and kanji tracking, Anki export, and curated reading πŸ“± πŸ’».
  • Nekonbini - JLPT-graded stories with furigana that auto-hides as you learn, instant lookups, and built-in SRS πŸ’» πŸ’°.
  • Meika Sensei's Easy Japanese Blog - Short multiple-level articles by a Japanese teacher, on current Japanese trends and seasons πŸ‘Ά πŸ‘¨.

Listening

Speaking

  • JIVX - AI-graded Japanese sentence production practice, typed or spoken πŸ’° πŸ€–.
  • Online Japanese Accent Dictionary - Learn correct pitch accent to pronounce Japanese words; word lists organized by textbook.

Community

  • /r/learnjapanese - Learn Japanese subreddit πŸ“±.
  • Lang-8 - A language learning platform where native speakers correct what you write πŸ“±.
  • Discord - Popular chatroom platform πŸ“± πŸ’».
  • Telegram - Popular messenger app πŸ“± πŸ’».
    • Dekitaidan - Russian-speaking Telegram community for Japanese learners and resources.
  • HelloTalk - Popular language exchange app πŸ“±.

Video

  • YouTube
  • News
  • Stream
    • QVC Japan - Live stream of the QVC shopping channel in Japan.
    • Abema TV - Live Japanese TV stream πŸ“± πŸ—Ύ.
    • NicoNico - Japanese streamer platform πŸ“±.
    • DaiWEEB - Japanese anime with both Japanese and English subtitles.
    • JFF+ (Japan Foundation) - Japan Foundation streaming of Japanese films and shorts; some titles are region-restricted ⚠️.
  • Players
    • Memento - An mpv-based video player for studying Japanese.
    • animebook - In-browser video player for learning Japanese with subtitles.
    • asbplayer - Browser-based media player and Chrome extension for subtitle sentence mining.
    • miteiru - Open-source Electron video player to learn Japanese and other languages πŸ‘΄.
    • mirumoji - Self-hosted, open-source video player with Japanese subtitle tokenization, JMDict, and Anki export πŸ‘΄.
  • Subtitles
    • kitsunekko - Repository of Japanese subtitles for many series.
  • Japanese TV Channels - Browse Japanese TV networks on YouTube (live and latest) with an interactive player.

Dictionary

  • Web

  • Software

    • Houhou - The dictionary doubles as a learning tool πŸ’».
    • Takoboto - Android Japanese dictionary app, also has web and computer based version πŸ“± πŸ’».
    • imiwa? - iOS Japanese dictionary app πŸ“±.
    • Tagaini Jisho - Open-source Japanese dictionary and kanji lookup tool for Windows, macOS, and Linux.
    • Jiten - Japanese dictionary and kanji lookup; web version plus an offline Android app on F-Droid πŸ“± πŸ’».
    • Japanese - Dictionary, stroke order and flashcards for iOS πŸ“±.
    • Midori (Japanese Dictionary) - Dictionary, stroke order and flashcards for iOS πŸ“± πŸ’».

Software

  • Computer
  • Browser Extension πŸ“‘
    • Firefox
    • Chrome
      • Yomitan - Browser popup dictionary that helps you decipher difficult Japanese text.
      • rikaigu - Rikaikun enhanced. Translate Japanese by hovering over words.
      • IPA furigana - Looks up the readings for kanji words and inserts them as Furigana.
      • ReadNihon - Adds furigana to web pages by JLPT level; save known words to skip them.
      • jp343 Tracker - Tracks Japanese immersion time on YouTube, Netflix, Crunchyroll, Spotify and more.
    • Safari

Contributing

Contributions welcome! Read the contribution guidelines first.

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Awesome Japanese Learning Resources

yudataguy.github.io/awesome-japanese/

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awesome katakana hiragana japan kanji awesome-list japanese-language

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