I bought the download only version at a sale price which is great. I find this very helpful as it comes with sample sentences, and the MP3 files make it easy to listen to whenever I want.

I have been wanting to buy some Japanese readers for a while but the only ones I ever found were so expensive for only a few stories. At the time of writing, you get 20 stories. The books don't just give you the raw story but also goes over the sentences and has a glossary with the words and a few grammar points.

This is a good and cheap way to do extensive reading as well as Tadoku.

These books are for people who are not absolute beginners, know a bit of grammar as well as Hiragana and Katakana.

The only flaw I can see in the books is that it relies heavily on Romaji instead of Hiragana and Katakana. I wish that they had a second version of the books that had no Romaji because it is a harmful crutch to learning to read.

I like how this shirt is so cute and the print, visible. The material is also nice. The only other comment I have is that the sizing runs on the small side. The next time, I will order the next size up.

Although I have not used it yet, it seems to be durable, seals tightly and pretty colors. Shipping was quite fast as well and arrived in good condition. I will have more to share later. Thank you!

It is very fun to learn japanese words in context, it is an amazing way to improve my understanding of that language I love so much, thank you very much for this product

I have an intermediate Japanese level (know every hiragana, katakana and few hundred Kanji) and I needed some new material to reach a new stage.

To me, these books are just perfect.

The way everything is broken down is perfect to me, it really really makes sense and I think it's one of the best ways to actually learn Japanese. It's really well-made and easy to follow.

I think that these materials are the go-to for any beginner to intermediate Japanese learners.

Very good books for Jlpt N5. The grammar books is very useful. Good easy explanations and lots of examples. The kanji book is very practical and has space where to practice your skills. Very good price so definitely recommended!

Super fast shipping, great products, very responsive, super knowledgeable A+++

If you are fine with non-hard copy versions of the books, this is perfect.
Only wish they had a set for JLPT N4 and above as well.

Hi, actually I just started to use it. By now I can only say it is a good practice for me from a “reading” point of view, thanks a lot for your help. It is not easy to find this kind of material for starting with japanese language.

This is great! You get the stories, translations, extra explanations of context, plus audio with both fast and slow pronunciation. I have been interested in Japanese for some time, and this has gotten me motivated to learn more than ever. You only need to have learned the hiragana syllabary more or less to get started. Plus, it's a lot more interesting to read these stories than only learning from textbooks or apps.

I have a BA in Japanese but have forgotten so much over the years. I've been wanting to get back into re-learning the language and ran across The Japan Shop.

I love the way everything is broken down and explained in everyday plain English. Which makes it much easier for me to review what I already knew (and have forgotten!). Clay and Yumi have done an amazing job putting all this together. I wish The Japan Shop had existed during my college days. I would have learned so much more!

From my point of view this one is way more begginer friendly than kids books since even they are wholly in hiragana (almost) those books uses words you won't see in daily life or in your studying textbooks, despite having done minna no nihongo 1 and 2 and anki decks for a long time now, I totally found it to be super useful.
A series like this way, gradually increasing difficulty, is what I initially looked for, so glad you did.
I'd definitely recommend this set to people who wants to start reading normal Japanese and not words like "little prince" or using おる.

Book is amazing, shipped promptly with helpful personal follow up from the Japan Shop team.

It breaks down every sentence, highlights grammar points, comes along with MP3 for correct pronunciation in a fast and slow pace. Highly reccomended, I've been looking for some content like this, for a while.

This should be the first reader for beginners who already know hiragana and some basic Japanese grammar and vocabulary. The first chapters are very easy to understand. Later on the level rises but for beginners it's still okay (I guess).

I also like it that the chapters start with the Japanese text before splitting it up sentence by sentence, so there's less temptation to cheat. Please keep this in your next readers as well.

One thing that irritates me is the lecture at the beginnging of each chapter not to look for the roumaji before reading the Japanese text. Here I think, once is enough. Also it might be a good idea not to repeat the the furigana on and on for already introduced kanji, e.g. after chapter 2, you should know how to read 私, so the furigana could be left out. That goes especially for single kanji. Just an idea for future revisions.

All in one it's a great reader.

つづく？

This shirt is very generous in size! I got the 2XL as I’m usually a size 16/18 but I could have gone with an XL for a closer fit. That said, I LOVE the heather raspberry colour and a sloppy fit makes for a comfy study afternoon ;). The package did take over 10 days to arrive in Australia but worth the wait!

All other language learning courses should be like this. Thank you so much for creating all these and also the other stuffs on your website!

They arrived really quickly and look fantastic. More please!

I have been looking for books in Japanese for months to try and help me implement my vocab and grammar knowledge.
I was skeptical of this bundle because it was 1) cheap and 2) it was digital. The reviews were good though and it seemed like a quality product. I decided that worst case scenario, I would be out $10, so I bought the bundle.
I love it!! The stories are broken down into bite size chunks to help with vocabulary understanding, and all kanji have furigana to help with pronunciation. The stories are also in full english or full japanese. I like reading in full japanese first to practice my reading and recognition skills and then move on to the broken down version so that I can practice my understanding.
I definitely recommend this for anyone learning Japanese!

Reading comics book and learn Japanese is so much fun. Doraemon and the gang just makes me smile !!!

I love the books and the tools available to understand it. I feel it helps my progression a lot! Thank you so much!

Worth the price.

This assets are great for beginners like me, it helps you a lot with my reading and understanding skills and the Kindle files are amazing for studying on the go.

Thank you so much for these bundles! Extremely high quality, everything is broken down and the pricing is great! No more boring textbooks that's the most enjoyable way to learn Japanese!

This T-shirt is great! I love it. My son tried to take it from me but no way was I giving it up! Lol

I am learning so much from the dialogues! As with other products from the Japan Shop, the quality of this offering is of the highest order. I especially value the care taken to explain words and expressions in context. It’s like having an insider whispering in your ear during a daily conversation. I love that new and directly applicable vocabulary is supplied in kanji form, with hiragana that enables us to immediately learn while reinforcing our understanding of kanji and kana alike. I look forward to starting each new dialogue, knowing that I’ll learn something new and useful.

Just what I was looking for. Thank you very much! Although I just bought the first 6 issues but I will - eventually - subscribe for future issues.
Did you consider adding QR codes after each hyperlink? I am reading this via my Kindle and listening to the MP3 on my phone. With the QR I could easily open the link without having to type in each time ;)

These books are a fantastic learning aid. The dialogues are extremely useful and well supported. The best part is that they are actually fun to use. You can perform role playing with a partner so two can learn Japanese. The downloads that come with the books are a special bonus. The MP3s are easy to use and provide sound to the written language. Books. MP3 files. What more can you ask for?

The idea to combine stories written in hiragana with an audio recording of the text is a simple idea but very effective. There are kanji in each story too (with furigana) but the story is broken down line by line with explanations for particles, kana and each kanji. The audio recordings are great and the lady who reads them has beautifully precise and crystal clear pronunciation, that is easy to absorb and a delight to listen to! All in all I’m very satisfied and my kanji knowledge has increased with each one. Highly recommended, just bear in mind you will need to be able to read hiragana.

These are amazing! Every sentence is broken down, it comes with audio, but to me the best part is these feel like real conversations. This feels like a natural way to learn a language. Learning through real everyday conversations. Thank you Clay and Yumi!