Digital Downloads: Audiobooks

Level N5–N4 CEFR A1–A2 · beginner to upper beginner N5 N4 N3 N2 N1 Just startingNative material Best after Genki I From Clay & Yumi, teaching Japanese since 2002. Every story narrated by Yumi, a native speaker. This bundle includes FIVE full-length audiobooks — twelve complete Japanese stories, nearly ten hours of narration you can listen to and learn from anywhere. These are the audiobook versions of our Learn Japanese with Stories collection found here. Everything is a digital download — listen and learn without any written material (though the complete eBook of each volume is included if you'd like to read along). 🎧 Hear a Sample A few minutes from Volumes 1 and 2 — every volume in the bundle follows this same format. Sample — Hikoichi Audiobook Your browser does not support audio playback. Sample — Momotaro Audiobook Your browser does not support audio playback. NEW · 2026 All Five Volumes Freshly Re-Recorded & Expanded We rebuilt this entire collection from the ground up — and it is now complete. All five volumes have been freshly re-recorded and expanded, start to finish. Every future update stays free — buy once, and anything we add is yours. What's new in these editions: Brand-new narration — every story freshly recorded by Clay & Yumi. More ways to learn each story — a vocabulary preview, a slow reading, line-by-line with English, natural speed, comprehension questions, and a full English retelling. More bonus tracks — extra listening and review practice. A single chaptered audiobook file (M4B) — jump between chapters and pick up right where you left off on your phone. The complete eBook (PDF) included — read along or dig deeper (never required). A “Play All” playlist and a “How to Listen” guide — so you're listening in under a minute on any device. THE FIVE AUDIOBOOKS (TWELVE STORIES) Hikoichi (4 stories) — 2:36:50 Momotaro & the Tortoise and the Hare (2 stories + 3 bonus culture chapters) — 2:02:02 The Inch-High Samurai & Kaguya-hime, the Moon Princess — 1:44:30 The Mouse Bride & Ikkyuu-san — 1:08:10 The Cut-Tongue Sparrow (Shitakiri Suzume) & Kobutori-jiisan — 2:14:26 Total runtime: 9 hours 46 minutes — plus bonus shadowing and vocabulary-review tracks with every volume. HOW IS THIS DIFFERENT FROM OUR REGULAR EBOOK BUNDLE? This bundle covers the same material as our Learn Japanese with Stories eBook bundle. But with this Audiobook Bundle, you don't need any written material (a PDF of each book is included, but never required). You can listen and learn anywhere, anytime. In our regular eBook bundle, the audio is limited to slow- and normal-speed readings — here, every line and every word is explained aloud. Recommended level: upper beginner to intermediate. These audiobooks make listening to native material easier and less intimidating, but they may be too frustrating for true beginners. Just starting out? No problem — we have a bundle just for you. Meet the Beri-Beri-Shoshinsha Beginner's Bundle → Each of these audiobooks sells on Audible and elsewhere for $6–10. Get all five for one discounted price. Pay once and get every future update free. 聞き取り練習しましょう。Let's practice listening comprehension. EACH STORY, TAUGHT IN LAYERS So your understanding builds naturally: Story introduction — a short English preview to set the scene Vocabulary preview — key words in Japanese, then English Slow reading — the full story, slow and clear Line-by-line — one Japanese sentence at a time, each followed by its English meaning Natural speed — the whole story again; feel how much more you catch Comprehension questions — answer aloud to check yourself Full English version — to lock it all in You'll receive a download link immediately after purchase. Want to drill a particular section? You'll get MP3s for every section of every story. Just want to press play? You'll also get a single all-in-one audiobook file (and a chaptered M4B for phones). A PDF of each book is included too — but the audiobook is designed so you don't need it. A look at the first story in Volume 1 (the video format is very close to the audiobook). EVERY STORY IN THE COLLECTION All five audiobooks, twelve complete stories: Hikoichi and the Young Lord Hikoichi and the Hanami Hikoichi and the Living Umbrella Hikoichi and Tengu's Straw Raincoat Momotaro, the Peach Boy Usagi to Kame (the Tortoise & the Hare) The Inch-High Samurai Kaguya-hime, the Moon Princess The Mouse Bride Ikkyuu-san and the Tiger in the Folded Screen The Cut-Tongue Sparrow (Shitakiri Suzume) Kobutori-jiisan Impress your Japanese friends with your knowledge of Japanese folktales while polishing your grammar and vocabulary. 日本語を磨こう！ Let's polish our Japanese! WHAT YOU GET WITH EVERY STORY An easy, fun introduction to Japanese folklore — the classic stories every Japanese person knows and loves, but few Westerners have even heard of. The most famous Japanese tales in real Japanese. Yes, you can understand real Japanese today with these stories. (We don't recommend this for true beginners.) Every single line and word is explained and defined, out loud. No written material required — listen while walking the dog, doing the dishes, or falling asleep. (A PDF of each book is still included.) Build vocabulary, absorb grammar patterns, sharpen your listening, and polish your pronunciation by shadowing the narrators. MP3s as individual tracks, a single all-in-one file, and a chaptered M4B — plus the complete eBook PDF. Perfect for the beginner (but not absolute beginner) to intermediate learner. Buy now and every future update is yours free, forever. Please note: This is the digital audiobook version. No shipping charges — nothing is shipped. :) You'll receive a Dropbox link accessible from any device (phone, tablet, or computer) instantly. On a computer, download everything with the Download button at the top right. You do not need a Dropbox account to access or download the files. Don't see the email after ordering? Please check your spam folder or email us for support.

Meet the kappa. Green, about the size of a small child, with a shell on its back and a dish of water balanced on its head. Almost every Japanese child can draw one. It turns up in warnings about swimming in rivers, in the name of a sushi roll, and in a proverb about how even an expert can come unstuck. This first volume of Learn Japanese with Yokai uses the kappa to carry you through three readings in real Japanese: What is the Kappa? What a kappa looks like, where it lives, why it loves cucumbers, and why a Japanese speaker might call a strong swimmer a kappa. A Kappa Mummy. A sake brewery in Saga that has been in business for nearly three hundred years, and the strange thing the family found in a box in the attic while repairing the roof in 1953. A Kappa Repays a Debt. An old folktale about a hardworking farmer, a lunchbox that will not stay where he leaves it, and the afternoon he decides to watch it closely. Every part is taught in seven passes Story introduction – a short English preview so you know where you are headed. Vocabulary – the key words in Japanese, then English, with room to repeat after a native speaker. Slow speed – the full text read slowly and clearly, every word catchable. Line by line – each Japanese sentence broken into bite-size phrases with their English meanings, then rebuilt. This is where the language really sinks in. Normal speed – the same text at natural pace. Hear how much more you catch the second time. Comprehension questions – hear the question, pause to answer out loud, then hear the answer in Japanese and in English. English version – the whole piece retold in English so you can confirm you got it. Japanese narration by native speaker Yumi Boutwell, English by Clay Boutwell: the husband-and-wife team behind TheJapanShop.com, helping people learn Japanese since 2002. What you download 24 chapter MP3s (1 hr 29 min) plus a single all-in-one MP3 Chaptered M4B audiobook file for Apple Books, BookPlayer, and other audiobook apps 6 bonus tracks: a shadowing practice track and an English-to-Japanese vocabulary review for each of the three parts The full 155-page PDF of Learn Japanese with Yokai 1: The Kappa, with furigana and vocabulary notes, so you can follow the text while you listen A short How to Listen guide No textbook needed and no pages to turn. Press play in the car or on a walk and let the repetition do the work. By the final pass you will not just follow these readings, you will own the vocabulary and grammar inside them. Perfect for upper beginners (JLPT N5 to N4) ready to move past word lists into real Japanese, and for anyone curious about the creatures that fill Japanese folklore. Digital download. Your download link arrives by email right after checkout, and your files are always available from your TheJapanShop.com downloads page.

The kappa, read aloud. The first of the Learn Japanese with Yokai readers as a full audiobook: the story of Japan's river yokai, narrated end to end, with the complete book to read along. What you get The audiobook as an M4B with chapter marks, for Apple Books, BookPlayer and anything else that reads chapters The same audiobook as MP3s, one file per chapter plus an all-in-one file, for any player at all The complete book as a PDF, so you can read along with the narration Shadowing practice for each part: listen, then say it back, line by line Vocabulary review for each part: English prompt, Japanese answer, so you can drill on a walk A short "How to Listen" guide Who it is for. Upper beginners and up. The Japanese is supported throughout in the book, and listening to a story you can also read is one of the fastest ways to make written Japanese start sounding like speech. Yours to keep and download, no subscription. Delivered through your Japan Shop downloads page the moment you order. From Clay & Yumi, teaching Japanese since 2002.