Japanese Reading Practice (読解)

Graded Japanese reading passages with audio, furigana and comprehension checks.

• 私の一日 (My Day) — JLPT N5: A student’s ordinary weekday, from breakfast to bedtime.
• 日曜日の朝市 (The Sunday Morning Market) — JLPT N5: A trip to the morning market by the station, and some very sweet apples.
• 初めての新幹線 (My First Shinkansen Ride) — JLPT N5: A family trip from Tokyo to Kyoto: a station bento and a view of Mount Fuji.
• うちの猫、ミケ (Our Cat, Mike (Mi-ke)) — JLPT N5: A calico cat called Mike and her favorite sunny spot.
• 新しいくつ (New Shoes) — JLPT N5: Shopping for shoes at a department store, and choosing between two pairs.
• 私の家族 (My Family) — JLPT N5: Meet a family of four: a busy father, a mother who cooks well, and a tall older brother.
• 友だちの誕生日 (A Friend's Birthday Party) — JLPT N5: A birthday party at Takeshi’s house with presents, singing, and a big cake.
• 静かな図書館 (The Quiet Library) — JLPT N5: Studying in a quiet library for tomorrow’s test and borrowing a Japanese manga.
• カレーを作る (Making Curry) — JLPT N5: Buying beef and vegetables at the supermarket and cooking a pot of warm curry.
• 動物園の一日 (A Day at the Zoo) — JLPT N5: A weekend trip to the zoo to watch pandas, see big elephants, and take lots of photos.
• 雨の日曜日 (A Rainy Sunday) — JLPT N5: Spending a rainy Sunday indoors listening to music, cleaning, and resting with hot tea.
• 初めての日本語の授業 (First Japanese Class) — JLPT N5: The first day of Japanese class: greeting classmates from different countries and learning hiragana.
• コンビニで買い物 (Shopping at a Convenience Store) — JLPT N5: Buying salmon rice balls and warm tea at a convenience store during the lunch break.
• 町の夏祭り (The Town Summer Festival) — JLPT N5: Red lanterns, booming taiko drums, and piping-hot takoyaki at the local shrine festival.
• 川までサイクリング (Cycling to the River) — JLPT N5: Taking a new blue bicycle out on a sunny Sunday along the riverside bike path.
• 寒い冬の朝 (A Cold Winter Morning) — JLPT N5: Leaving a cozy futon on a frosty morning, eating hot soup, and warming up on the walk to the station.
• 私の部屋 (My Room) — JLPT N5: A student shows us a small, bright room: a desk by the window, a bookshelf, a bed, and a sleepy dog.
• 郵便局で (At the Post Office) — JLPT N5: Sending a birthday present to a younger sister back home: the price by air, the address, and how long it takes.
• 夏の海 (A Summer Day at the Sea) — JLPT N5: A hot August day at the beach with two friends: swimming, a sandcastle, shaved ice, and a red face that night.
• 回転ずし (Conveyor-Belt Sushi) — JLPT N5: A first visit to a conveyor-belt sushi shop with a host family: taking plates, ordering on a tablet, a full stomach.
• 友だちと試験勉強 (Studying for a Test with Friends) — JLPT N5: Ken and Yumi come over to study for a Japanese test: kanji help, grammar quizzes, tea, and a sleepy cat.
• 高尾山に登りました (Climbing Mount Takao) — JLPT N5: A Sunday climb up Mount Takao with Yumi: a two-hour trail, a view of Mount Fuji, rice balls, and a cable car down.
• カフェで注文 (Ordering at a Café) — JLPT N5: Susu orders at a café: the clerk's recommendation, hot or iced tea, a seat by the window, and paying.
• 映画に行きませんか (Want to See a Movie?) — JLPT N5: Ken invites Susu to a new anime movie on Saturday: picking a showing, a place to meet, and plans for after.
• 道を聞く (Asking the Way) — JLPT N5: Susu asks a station worker how to get to the art museum: which exit, which corner, which bus, how long.
• 温泉のマナー (Hot Spring Manners) — JLPT N4: What to do (and not do) when you visit a Japanese hot spring.
• 忘れた傘 (The Forgotten Umbrella) — JLPT N4: An umbrella left on a train, and the station’s lost-and-found office.
• お花見とお弁当 (Cherry Blossoms and Bento) — JLPT N4: A spring picnic under the cherry blossoms with friends from around the world.
• 喫茶店のアルバイト (My Part-time Job at a Café) — JLPT N4: A first part-time job in Japan: nerves, polite language and a helpful senior coworker.
• 先生へのメール (An Email to the Teacher) — JLPT N4: A student emails their teacher to miss class politely: a model of everyday polite Japanese.
• 梅雨の季節 (The Rainy Season) — JLPT N4: Early summer in Japan: weeks of rain, damp laundry, and hydrangeas in bloom.
• 温泉街への小旅行 (A Trip to a Hot Spring Town) — JLPT N4: A weekend trip to a mountain onsen town: strolling in yukata, hot spring eggs, and a relaxing footbath.
• 風邪とクリニック (A Cold and the Clinic) — JLPT N4: Visiting a local clinic with a sore throat, receiving a doctor’s advice, and picking up medicine.
• 新しいアパートへの引っ越し (Moving to a New Apartment) — JLPT N4: Packing boxes ahead of time, moving into a university apartment, and meeting a warm neighbor.
• ごみの分別ルール (Garbage Sorting Rules) — JLPT N4: Learning Japan’s recycling system: washing PET bottles, taking off labels, and sorting trash.
• 学校の文化祭 (The School Cultural Festival) — JLPT N4: Teaming up with classmates to run a yakisoba food stall at the annual school festival.
• 台風が来る日 (A Typhoon Day) — JLPT N4: Preparing for an approaching typhoon: stocking up on water and batteries, and bringing plants inside.
• みんなで作るお好み焼き (Making Okonomiyaki Together) — JLPT N4: Gathering with friends from Osaka to cook okonomiyaki on a griddle and mastering the flip.
• 川の清掃ボランティア (Riverside Cleanup Volunteer) — JLPT N4: Joining local neighbors on a Sunday morning to pick up litter along the riverbank.
• アルバイトの面接 (A Part-time Job Interview) — JLPT N4: Interviewing for a part-time job at a bookstore: polite speech, resume, and love of reading.
• フリーマーケットに出店する (Selling at a Flea Market) — JLPT N4: Setting up a stall at a weekend park flea market: bargaining, recycling, and finding new homes for books.
• 初めての美容院 (A First Visit to the Hair Salon) — JLPT N4: John gets his first haircut in Japan, and must explain how short he wants it before a friend's wedding.
• 交番で (At the Police Box) — JLPT N4: Rin has lost her wallet somewhere between a coffee shop and a bookstore, and goes to the local police box for help.
• 京都へ行こう (Let's Go to Kyoto) — JLPT N4: Two friends plan a holiday trip to Kyoto in casual Japanese: how to get there, where to stay, and what to see and eat.
• 会社の一日目 (First Day at the Office) — JLPT N4: Tim starts at a Japanese company, and a senior colleague explains the computer, the rules and the phones.
• コンビニは町のインフラ (Konbini as Community Infrastructure) — JLPT N3: How Japanese convenience stores became much more than places to shop.
• 「もったいない」の心 (The Spirit of “Mottainai”) — JLPT N3: More than “don’t waste”: the gratitude behind a well-known Japanese word.
• シェアハウスで学んだこと (What I Learned in a Share House) — JLPT N3: Living with housemates from many countries, and learning that “normal” is not the same for everyone.
• ゆるキャラが町を元気にする (Mascots That Liven Up Towns) — JLPT N3: Why Japanese towns create cute local mascots, and what they do for the community.
• 歩きスマホについて考える (Thinking About Walking While Using a Phone) — JLPT N3: A short opinion column on looking at your phone while walking, and a simple suggestion.
• 断水のお知らせ (Notice: Water Outage) — JLPT N3: A notice from an apartment building. Read it the way you would a real one: what, when, and what to do.
• 在宅勤務はどう？ (How Is Working from Home?) — JLPT N3: Two colleagues meet at the office for the first time in months and compare what working from home has really changed.
• 田舎に住むなら (If We Lived in the Countryside) — JLPT N3: A couple in Tokyo find a village renting out empty houses cheaply, and weigh up what moving there would really mean.
• 和菓子職人に聞く (An Interview with a Wagashi Maker) — JLPT N3: On a radio show, a Kyoto sweet maker of fifty years talks about the family shop and what should change.
• 誰が悪いの？ (Whose Fault Is It?) — JLPT N3: A sister and brother argue in casual Japanese over a missing cake, until something turns up under the fridge.
• もしものときに備えて (Prepared for the Worst) — JLPT N3: A newcomer from a country with few earthquakes asks a neighbor what to prepare before the local disaster drill.
• 仕事をやめたい (Thinking of Quitting) — JLPT N3: Worn out by overtime, Watanabe asks a former senior whether to quit, and comes away with a new question.
• 高齢化が進む町で (A Town Growing Older) — JLPT N3: Fewer children, fewer buses, a closed supermarket: how a mountain town keeps its older residents fed and in touch.
• 銭湯がまた人気に (Public Baths Make a Comeback) — JLPT N3: Neighborhood bathhouses nearly disappeared. A young owner's ideas are bringing in students and visitors again.
• キャッシュレスの時代 (The Cashless Age) — JLPT N3: Paying by phone is easy and earns points, but money you can't see is easy to overspend. A short column.
• 夜行バスの旅 (A Night Bus Journey) — JLPT N3: Skipping the bullet train, the writer rides an overnight bus to Hiroshima: a cramped seat, a cold dawn, a good friend.
• だしから作るみそ汁 (Miso Soup from Scratch) — JLPT N3: A blog post on making dashi the way a grandmother taught: kelp out before the boil, and a gentler soup.
• ホストファミリーへの手紙 (A Letter to My Host Family) — JLPT N3: Half a year after going home, a former exchange student writes to her Japanese host family with news.
• 上の階の音 (Noise from Upstairs) — JLPT N3: A tired neighbor politely raises the late-night thumping, and the young man upstairs finds out where it comes from.
• シフト、代わってもらえる？ (Can You Cover My Shift?) — JLPT N3: Two part-timers talk in casual Japanese: one needs Saturday off for an exam, the other has plans that night.