Mermaids of Japan, a Japanese Reader: Learn Japanese with Yokai!

Japanese mermaids are not quite what you may be expecting.

Forget beautiful sirens singing on rocks. Japan’s 人魚 ningyo can be strange, unsettling creatures—sometimes described with distorted human faces, bird-like features, or bodies that look more fish than woman. Their appearance could foretell disaster, their remains became temple relics, and according to one famous legend, eating their flesh could make you live for centuries.

Designed for upper beginners around JLPT N4 and intermediate learners, this expanded edition gives you the support needed to tackle Japanese texts while building vocabulary, grammar, kanji, reading, and listening skills.

THREE STRANGE TALES FROM JAPAN’S WATERS

The Nihon Shoki and Mummies
Follow Japan’s mermaid tradition from mysterious creatures recorded in the Nihon Shoki in 619 to legends of Prince Shōtoku, Lake Biwa, and the strange ningyo mummies once preserved at Japanese temples.

The 800-Year-Old Nun
Discover the legend of 八百比丘尼, the Eight-Hundred-Year Nun of Wakasa.

Amabie
Meet the mysterious sea creature said to have appeared off Higo Province in 1846, predicting good harvests and epidemics and asking people to copy and share its image. More than 170 years later, Amabie unexpectedly returned to fame during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BUILT FOR LEARNING JAPANESE THROUGH READING

Each story includes:

Before You Read background and grammar previews

Japanese presented one sentence at a time

Furigana on every kanji

Complete vocabulary support

Grammar and cultural notes

A full Japanese-only version

Review & Practice exercises with answer keys

English summaries for checking comprehension

Expanded Kanji in Focus pages with readings, meanings, stroke order, components, example words, and memory hooks

FREE AUDIO, DIGITAL EXTRAS & APP ACCESS

Your purchase includes native-speaker audio at slow and natural speeds, plus bonus PDF and EPUB editions and Anki vocabulary decks.

Every sentence from the book is also available in the Makoto+ Japanese Explorer on the web and in the Makoto app for iOS and Android. Listen sentence by sentence, explore word-by-word breakdowns, reveal translations, and reinforce what you learn through quizzes and games.

Build your Japanese reading skills while exploring one of the stranger corners of Japanese folklore.