READ real Japanese Today! By choosing short stories, the intimidation factor is greatly reduced. Not only that, but we divide the story up into tiny, easy-to-swallow segments with complete explanations to give you confidence as you read real Japanese page by page. Perfect for upper beginner level students of Japanese. BONUS! Get FREE MP3s of the story read by a native Japanese voice actress, one read at normal speed and one read slowly. Listen while reading. The link to the MP3s is found on the last page. EXTRA BONUS! Included with the MP3s, are PDFs of all the vocabulary and grammar points. Feel free to print these out to use while reading. Now with Furigana! All our readers now have furigana in both the paperback and Kindle versions. Furigana is the small hiragana over the kanji--most devices support this new feature. Have you studied for a year or two but just don't feel like you are progressing? This book is for you too. We suggest reading the Japanese only section first (includes furigana) and then go through the line-by-line running gloss section to cement understanding and learn vocabulary. * All Japanese have furigana (printed version and Kindle version on supported devices (most new devices)) and romaji for those starting out. * Three complete Japanese short stories. Each story is presented in three unique ways. * Two stories are about Hikoichi and the third is about a girl and a mask. * GLOSS: Read the story with a running gloss-understand completely. Every sentence is broken down word-for-word and with English explanation of the grammar. * GRAMMAR: Tap the grammar icon (Kindle version) to zoom to fuller explanations. Tap the back button to return to the text * JAPANESE ONLY: The full story in Japanese only (without the running gloss) is also provided so you can practice reading without interruption. * ENGLISH SUMMARY: Finally, we have included a simple and mostly literal English translation for you to check your understanding (Don't cheat! Work through the Japanese first!). * Short stories makes reading full Japanese texts possible. * Download the FREE MP3s to listen while you study. Hikoichi You may know our first Japanese Reader Collection Volume has several Hikoichi stories. By far, those have been the most popular among students. Hikoichi is, after all, an interesting character. Smart, sassy, creative in his laziness...In short, his adventures are entertaining. Plus, not many non-Japanese are as familiar with Hikoichi as they are Momotaro or the Moon Princess. So, be one of the few to dig in, enjoy, and learn more about Hikoichi! Finally, we invite the reader to contact us with questions or requests for future Japanese readers. You will find our personal email addresses in the book. To your Japanese! What are you waiting for? Ninja up your Japanese. Click "Buy Now" now!

READ real Japanese Today! By choosing short stories, the intimidation factor is greatly reduced. Not only that, but we divide the story up into tiny, easy-to-swallow segments with complete explanations to give you confidence as you read real Japanese page by page. Perfect for upper beginner level students of Japanese. BONUS! Get FREE MP3s of the story read by a native Japanese voice actress, one read at normal speed and one read slowly. Listen while reading. The link to the MP3s is found on the last page. EXTRA BONUS! Included with the MP3s, are PDFs of all the vocabulary and grammar points. Feel free to print these out to use while reading. Now with Furigana! All our readers now have furigana in both the paperback and Kindle versions. Furigana is the small hiragana over the kanji--most devices support this feature. Have you studied for a year or two but just don't feel like you are progressing? This book is for you too. We suggest reading the Japanese only section first (includes furigana) and then go through the line-by-line running gloss section to cement understanding and learn vocabulary. * All Japanese have furigana (printed version and Kindle version on supported devices (all new devices)) and romaji for those starting out. * Three complete Japanese short stories. Each story is presented in three unique ways. * The Fountain of Youth: A traditional Japanese folk tale * The Hundred Tales Game: With the scariest of all endings* The Wise Child: A child shows his smarts by answering the question, which is farther, Edo or the Sun.* GLOSS: Read the story with a running gloss-understand completely. Every sentence is broken down word-for-word and with English explanation of the grammar. * GRAMMAR: Grammar notes are presented with the running gloss.* JAPANESE ONLY: The full story in Japanese only (without the running gloss) is also provided so you can practice reading without interruption. * ENGLISH SUMMARY: Finally, we have included a simple and mostly literal English translation for you to check your understanding (Don't cheat! Work through the Japanese first!). * Short stories makes reading full Japanese texts possible. * Download the FREE MP3s to listen while you study. Finally, we invite the reader to contact us with questions or requests for future Japanese readers. You will find our personal email addresses in the book. To your Japanese! What are you waiting for? Ninja up your Japanese. Click "Buy Now" now!

"The classic Japanese traditional story in Japanese and English. A Japanese reader for beginners and upper beginners of Japanese"--Page 4 of cover.

This is an invaluable study guide and practice book for learning basic Japanese kanji. Learning Japanese Kanji Practice Book is intended for beginning students, or experienced speakers who need to practice their written Japanese. Kanji are an essential part of the Japanese language and together with kana (hiragana and katakana) comprise written Japanese. This book presents the kanji characters that are most commonly used. All the kanji and related vocabulary words in this book are those that students are expected to know for Level 5 of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. (JLPT). Characters that appear in the AP Japanese Language and Culture Exam are flagged. Readings, meanings, and common compounds are presented. The correct method of writing each character is clearly indicated and practice boxes with strokes that can be traced are provided, along with empty boxes for freehand writing practice. Lots of exercises are included to give students the opportunity to practice writing sentences containing the Kanji. Indexes at the back allow you to look up the characters by their readings and English meanings. This kanji book includes: Step-by-step stroke order diagrams for each character. Special boxes with grid lines to practice writing characters. Extra printable practice grids Words and phrases using each kanji. Romanizations (romanji) to help identify and pronounce every word.

Since each kanji character in the Japanese language is associated with its own unique vocabulary, the study of kanji unavoidably requires that students learn many new Japanese words. To help you organize and keep track of the new words that are introduced in our three Learn to Read in Japanese books, we have assembled this companion glossary. The glossary lists more than 7,400 Japanese terms that are used in the three books, and it provides definitions and memory aides for nearly every term. The memory aides are of two types: explanations which describe how the listed terms are derived from other known Japanese words, or when such explanations aren't possible, mnemonics to help you to remember the terms' definitions and pronunciations. The glossary also identifies more than 8,000 synonyms (or at least "related terms") which make it possible for you to compare similar words side by side. Of course, this glossary cannot replace a good Japanese dictionary, nor is it intended to do so. However, it includes thousands of explanations, mnemonics and synonyms that you won't find in a standard dictionary, and it focuses precisely on the terms that you will encounter in the three Learn to Read in Japanese books. We think that it will help to make your Japanese study easier and more interesting.

"Four fun stories about the smart and mischievous Hikoichi. A Japanese reader for beginners and upper beginners of Japanese"--Page [4] of cover.