About this ebook
Short stories are the shortcut. By keeping each tale brief and cutting it into small, digestible segments — each with its own vocabulary and grammar notes — we take the intimidation out of reading actual Japanese. You move forward sentence by sentence, and the confidence builds on its own.
Recommended for upper-beginner to intermediate learners. If you can read hiragana and you're ready to wrestle with real sentences, you're ready for this book. And if you've studied a year or two but feel stuck, this one's for you too — start with the Japanese-only section, then work through the line-by-line gloss to lock it in.
THE STORIES
The Bowl-Wearing Princess (鉢かむり姫) — Japan's Cinderella. A dying mother sets a wooden bowl on her daughter's head, and it will not come off. The world keeps trying to send the girl away — until one young man takes the time to look closer.
The Wisdom of Ōoka Echizen (大岡越前) — a Solomon-style courtroom tale. Two women claim the same child, and the magistrate settles it with a tug-of-war — decided the instant one woman cannot bear to pull.
FIVE WAYS THROUGH EACH STORY
Line-by-line gloss — every sentence broken down word-for-word, grammar explained in plain English, full furigana.
Japanese only — the whole story again, no gloss, so you can read uninterrupted and build fluency.
Exercises — comprehension questions, particle fill-ins, grammar-pattern hunts, and translation comparisons, with a complete answer key.
English summary — a mostly literal translation to check yourself. (Try the Japanese first. No cheating.)
Kanji in Focus — the story's key kanji with readings, meanings, and example words.
FURIGANA THROUGHOUT — Every kanji in the reading sections carries furigana in both the paperback and the eBook (on supported devices). You're never stranded, but you can always cover it to test yourself.
FREE AUDIO + BONUSES
Two recordings per story — natural speed and slow — read by a native Japanese voice actress. Listen while you read.
QR codes for instant playback: scan with your phone's camera and the audio starts in seconds. (The download link is in the back too.)
Free Anki flashcard decks of all the vocabulary.
Printable vocabulary and grammar PDFs.
Makoto+ Sentence Explorer — practice every sentence interactively on the web or in the Makoto Japanese Explorer app.
From Clay and Yumi Boutwell, creators of TheJapanesePage.com since 1999.
Ready when you are. Scroll up and start reading real Japanese today.
