
I recently discovered the website Japanese level up by a guy named Adam. It has been around for a few years but I never gave it the attention it deserved. Which really…
A blog about love for anime, manga, games, toys, Japanese learning, Japanese culture... everything Japanese!
I recently discovered the website Japanese level up by a guy named Adam. It has been around for a few years but I never gave it the attention it deserved. Which really…
Learning Japanese is a time-intensive task and you often have to re-evaluate where you want to focus on. Do you want to improve your conversational skills, build a goo…
to ii といい means literally "if [something then] good." It's used to say something would be good if it happened, or if it were. It's the combination of the conditional particle to と, plus the ii いい. Don…
suru ga ii するがいい, or any verb plus ga ii, means literally "it's better to do [something]." In anime, however, it's pretty much always used by evil-looking characters who're full of themselves to prete…
ii koto いいこと means literally a "good thing," but it's also used, in female speech, as an interjection to call somebody's attention before telling them something. It's also spelled ii koto いい事, 良いこと, 良…
naka ga ii 仲がいい means somebody is in good terms with somebody else, that they're friends, colleagues, that they have a "good relationship." Literally, it's the word naka 仲, "relationship," plus the ii…
It’s been ages since I last bought a Dvd from Japan. Sti...
It’s been ages since I last bought a Dvd from Japan. Sti...
It’s been ages since I last bought a Dvd from Japan. Sti...
5pb. has released a bunch of hot and steamy screenshots for their upcoming IS: Infinite Strato...
I continue to enjoy Shirobako, the slice-of-life show about a group of girls who realize their drea...
And if you’re not sure how ordering manga from Japan works check my guide about how to order books from Japan.
I probably made my point clear why you shouldn’t give two cents about if a manga has furigana or not to judge about its difficulty. Especially if you already started with WaniKani. Read something without furigana and be amazed that you probably don’t recognize some Kanji you always seemed to ace at your daily WaniKani practice. That’s why I’ll just have some recommendations in here which are not too challenging and all have one thing in common: They are good fun and worth your time (and money).
I’m a sucker for everything by Naoki Urasawa. he’s just the most brilliant contemporary mangaka. Pluto is a futuristic, philosophical masterpiece and his epic stories are yet to find a true challenge. The Yawara 完全版 (complete edition) was released at the beginning of 2014 end gets two new volumes every month. Only bought the first two for now but will probably buy some more with my next honto order. Yawara is a manga about Judo and a young girl who is forced by her strict grandfather to keep on practicing. Just because she is so good at it. I’m still at the very beginning but the manga has all the ingredients I like about Urasawa’s works in general. It’s mainly a comedy manga but always manages to be serious enough to introduce more mature themes without being off.
When I bought the first edition there was a DVD with some episodes of the anime attached. Unfortunately, this wasn’t for free and did cost 1000¥ on top.
Buy the manga: Yawara 完全版
When I started to read manga I was always looking for the ones which contain furigana to make pickin...
You’re still reading, which means that we’re on the same page here. We both love Japanese stuff and just need a valid source with reasonable prices to buy all the printed goodness we ever wanted. Here comes the ultimate solution:
Many readers did complain that honto didn’t accept their credit cards (mainly problems with Visa) or just canceled their order. I recently discovered cdjapan.co.jp again, a very reliable shop for Japanese books, video games, CDs & DVDs. Their prices on books are exactly the same as on honto.jp and you don’t have to pay the Japanese taxes when shipping outside of Japan which is extra sweet. They also have a nice points system which rewards you for being a loyal customer. You can even pay with paypal for all the people who don’t own a credit card (or for me who loves it for the simplicity).
But what’s most important is that everything is in English, the shipping options are vast (including cheap SAL) and you can even add a Japanese video game or CD to your order. The only thing I always missed at honto, not being able to sneak in a game with my book order.
Shipping to Europe, Germany takes around 2 weeks via SAL.
I started using cdjapan again because you can check the shipping rates at checkout and sneak in a video game to your order. Another important factor is that magazines and limited edition manga (which contain some extra goods like Drama Cds or a Dvd) are sold out fast at honto.jp. In most cases, cdjapan still has some in stock.
If you want to support Japanese Tease click on the button below or the links above. These are affiliate links and will earn the site a small percentage from your order. Thanks a lot for this, it really helps to support the site.
Guide: Where to buy Japanese Manga and Books
If you’re living in Europe, it may seem difficult to buy Japanese manga and books. You donR...
Many people obviously want to learn a new language for the primary reason to speak it in its specific country. That wasn’t quite the case for me when I started to learn Japanese. I always loved Japanese films and the Japanese culture itself but I wanted to be able to read Japanese books and maybe play a video game in Japanese.
That was the reason why I started in the first place. I already read some manga back then (only by Naoki Urasawa) but I was more into western comics. It was within the last year when I discovered my love for Japanese comics and naturally it became my goal to read manga in their original language: Japanese.
I once learned English through watching movies with (English) subtitles, so I thought “why shouldn’t the reading-route work with Japanese too.” On my trip to Tokyo, I bought a big bunch of books and manga. So many that my girlfriend complained that she couldn’t buy as much for herself as she wanted to because my books already were too heavy and maxed out our allowed weight.
I usually prefer more mature stories and thus mangaka like Naoki Urasawa, Osamu Tezuka, and Jiro Taniguchi. Unfortunately, the books by these authors lack “furigana” small Japanese figures which are placed above all Kanji and give the reading of it. This makes looking up an unknown word so much easier.
Especially when you’re still working on a basic vocabulary like me, these are existential. But now let’s talk about some good manga to begin with or easy to read manga for Japanese beginners.
So here we go, my list of easy to read manga for Japanese beginners. (This is only part one, so you know what that could mean.)
Regarding the links: (If you buy the books through my links, I’ll get a small referral fee which will be used to buy even more awesome books for review.) If you don’t know where and how to buy Japanese manga, visit my guide on Where to buy Japanese manga
If you’re in search of some transparent book covers to wrap your manga, just click on the link!
The obvious choice and highly recommended when it comes to manga for Japanese beginners. A rather simple language and because of the setting of a young child experiencing everyday problems and everyday life, the vocabulary will be of great use for every beginner.
Easy to read manga for Japanese beginners
I’ve been trying to learn Japanese for about one and a half years now. I had my ups and downs ...
Kaws already released a couple shirts and will be back with a Sesame-Street styled collection. But today we are much more interested in the Shonen JUMP 50th anniversary collection.
To celebrate that birthday a nice selection of T-shirts has been released. I picked up two already but some will probably follow soon. Don’t be mislead by some of the comments which said the fit of the shirts was off and the quality just not there. The fit is absolutely decent and the quality excellent for the price. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed.
You may know by now that I’m, not the biggest fan of recent Shonen JUMP releases but there is ...
The Tokyo locations are located in Ikebukuro, Asakusa, and Shinjuku. A busy district with lots of business hotels and places to shop. It wasn’t exactly my favorite part of the city but it never hurts to try out a novelty. The rates for the standard room are 4,800¥ and 3,800¥ for the compact one.
If you’re actually looking for a cheap place to stay I only heard good things about Juyoh. Very affordable rates and it has a family like atmosphere to it. But with the drawback that it’s not exactly in the heart of the city.
If you want to experience a city as closely and authentic as possible I can personally recommend staying with a guest family. Price wise it should be on par with a cheap hostel but with the chance to actually live with a Japanese family. An experience no Hotel can provide. Of course, you have to be open towards living pretty closely with people you never met before. But if you don’t need an especially relaxing vacation with lots of privacy you should definitely think about it.
I stayed with a host family for nearly four weeks myself. Lovely people with a cozy home in Gakugeidaigaku. Just a few stations away from lovely Nakameguro, Shibuya or Harajuku. When the time finally comes for me and I can travel to Japan again that would be the area where I wanted to be located. A calm residential area with few tourists and the feeling that only locals are frequenting the surrounding bars and shops.
But I’m getting adrift here. The Book and Bed location in Kyoto looks absolutely stunning and I really would love to go for a Book and Beer now.
Book and Bed is the Japanese dream hostel for every manga and book aficionado. With locations in Kyo...
I love all my books and manga and always try to protect them the best way possible. On my visit to T...
Kaws already released a couple shirts and will be back with a Sesame-Street styled collection. But today we are much more interested in the Shonen JUMP 50th anniversary collection.
To celebrate that birthday a nice selection of T-shirts has been released. I picked up two already but some will probably follow soon. Don’t be mislead by some of the comments which said the fit of the shirts was off and the quality just not there. The fit is absolutely decent and the quality excellent for the price. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed.
You may know by now that I’m, not the biggest fan of recent Shonen JUMP releases but there is ...
The Tokyo locations are located in Ikebukuro, Asakusa, and Shinjuku. A busy district with lots of business hotels and places to shop. It wasn’t exactly my favorite part of the city but it never hurts to try out a novelty. The rates for the standard room are 4,800¥ and 3,800¥ for the compact one.
If you’re actually looking for a cheap place to stay I only heard good things about Juyoh. Very affordable rates and it has a family like atmosphere to it. But with the drawback that it’s not exactly in the heart of the city.
If you want to experience a city as closely and authentic as possible I can personally recommend staying with a guest family. Price wise it should be on par with a cheap hostel but with the chance to actually live with a Japanese family. An experience no Hotel can provide. Of course, you have to be open towards living pretty closely with people you never met before. But if you don’t need an especially relaxing vacation with lots of privacy you should definitely think about it.
I stayed with a host family for nearly four weeks myself. Lovely people with a cozy home in Gakugeidaigaku. Just a few stations away from lovely Nakameguro, Shibuya or Harajuku. When the time finally comes for me and I can travel to Japan again that would be the area where I wanted to be located. A calm residential area with few tourists and the feeling that only locals are frequenting the surrounding bars and shops.
But I’m getting adrift here. The Book and Bed location in Kyoto looks absolutely stunning and I really would love to go for a Book and Beer now.
Book and Bed is the Japanese dream hostel for every manga and book aficionado. With locations in Kyo...
When I started to read manga I was always looking for the ones...
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gogogogo ゴゴゴゴ, and then asked yourself: what does it mean??? If you...
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Learning Japanese is a time-intensive task and you often ...
to ii といい means literally "if [something then] good." It's used to sa...
kakkou 格好 means the "appearance" of something, but in the sense of "how...
warui 悪い would be literally "bad." It's an warui and its inflections have ot...
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gogogogo ゴゴゴゴ, and then asked yourself: what does it mean??? If you...
I recently discovered the website Japanese level up by a guy n...