What you get
10 eBooks + audio + Anki flashcards + app access
It's a digital bundle, so nothing is shipped. Right after checkout we email you a link to download:
How you'll use it
Read, listen, review, use
- ReadA haiku, a joke or a karate term, with every word explained.
- ListenHear it read aloud, and for each haiku, a commentary in simple Japanese.
- ReviewGo over the words in Anki.
- UseName a technique at the dojo, or tell a friend a Japanese pun.
Dip in anywhere: every book stands on its own.
Mixed levels, JLPT N5 to N3 · Beginner-friendly and up
What's inside
10 eBooks, in four groups
Haiku by Japan's four great poets, then the Japanese of the dojo, of jokes, of travel and of names.
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Step 1
Start with what a haiku is
Japanese Sentences: Haiku explains the 5-7-5 count, 季語 (season words) and 切れ字 (cutting words), introduces the major poets, and reads famous haiku aloud.

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Step 2
Bashō, in two books
松尾芭蕉 (1644–1694), the most famous haiku poet of all. 49 poems, each with every word explained, translations from literal to interpretive, a commentary in simple Japanese with audio, and what the poem means.


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Step 3
Buson, Issa and Shiki
The painter-poet 与謝蕪村, 小林一茶 with his frogs and flies, and 正岡子規, who gave haiku its modern name. Taught the same way as the Bashō books.



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Step 4
Karate, jokes, Japan and names
300+ dojo terms with a QR code and audio for every entry, puns and おやじギャグ (dad jokes) with the wordplay explained, Ninja Penguin's tour of all 47 prefectures, and how Japanese family and given names are read and written.




- Your goal: Japanese culture, in Japanese
Look inside
One haiku, taken apart
山路来て
山路来て
“Coming upon a mountain path / I feel somehow charmed / the violets”
The first poem in the Bashō book. Its season word is すみれ草, the violet, so it is a spring poem. The book explains every word (来て is the て-form of the irregular verb 来る), gives five more translations, then a commentary in simple Japanese and what the poem means.
In the app too
Read and listen in the Makoto+ app


Seven of the ten books unlock in the Makoto+ Japanese Explorer app for iPhone, iPad and Android, and on the web: the five haiku books, Japanese Sentences: Haiku and Karate Vocabulary. Here is a haiku in the app, then its translation and every word of the poem explained. One link in your download adds them all.
- Each haiku set vertically, with furigana
- Tap to hear it read aloud
- Its season word, and a card on the poet
- More translations, one tap away
- Every word explained, saved with one tap
What learners say
“Excellent collections of contents, one of a kind. Learning Japanese through the haiku of Basho, Issa and Shiki... I couldn't have wished for more, thank you so much!”
Giorgia M.
“This is an excellent collection of books for the beginner/intermediate level.”
Ruediger
“Fantastic value in a variety of formats. Amazingly entertaining content for learning. Brilliant!”
Ronald
Who it's for
- Pay once, keep them forever
- Free updates forever
- Instant download
- 60-day money-back guarantee
Questions
What do I get?
10 eBooks as PDF, ePub and Kobo files, 968 MP3 audio files, 10 Anki decks, a printable dojo cheat sheet and a Quizlet/Memrise file for Karate Vocabulary, name worksheets for Japanese Names, and app access for seven of the books.
How do I download it?
Right after checkout we email you a download link. Download everything at once on a computer, or open single books on your phone or tablet. You don't need Dropbox or any other account.
Can I read them on my phone or Kindle?
Yes. The ePub files work in Apple Books, Google Play Books and most reading apps, and the PDFs open anywhere. Our eBook guide walks you through each device.
Which books unlock in the Makoto+ app?
Seven: the two Bashō books, Buson, Issa, Shiki, Japanese Sentences: Haiku and Karate Vocabulary. One link in your download adds them all. Japanese Names, Jokes in Japanese and Ninja Penguin aren't in the app yet; their files are all in the download.
What level is it?
Mixed, about JLPT N5 to N3. Every haiku has furigana and every word is explained, and every book has English explanations and audio. Want more haiku? The Learn Japanese with Haiku bundle has Chiyo-ni, Akutagawa and Sōseki.
Is a printed version included?
No, this is the digital bundle. Several of these books are also sold as paperbacks.
What if it isn't right for me?
Tell us within 60 days and we'll swap it for a better-fitting bundle or refund you in full.
TheJapanShop.com bundles are books you own. Makoto+ is a library you join. See how they compare
We run two main sites: TheJapanShop.com and MakotoPlus.com. Here's the gist:
Books you own
TheJapanShop.com bundles
- Pay once and keep it forever
- Download every book: PDF, ePub and MP3 audio, plus Anki decks with many bundles
- Free updates forever, including new volumes we add to the bundle
- Most bundles also unlock in the Makoto app by themselves, as the full eBook plus interactive sentences
- 60-day money-back guarantee
A library you join
Makoto+ membership
- Free, monthly or yearly plans
- Interactive stories in the Makoto app: about a dozen free, dozens with Samurai, up to 200 with Shogun
- Stories in the membership rotate monthly
- A new Makoto magazine issue every month to download and keep (Samurai and Shogun)
- Members save 10% (Samurai) or 20% (Shogun) on bundles
Join once, for good
Makoto+ Lifetime
- Shogun membership for life, with one payment
- Everything we add to Makoto+ later is included
- Bundle downloads are not included, but your 20% member discount works on them
- Sold only during limited-time windows
Many learners do both. The free Makoto+ Japanese Explorer App (iPhone/iPad and Android) puts them side by side: the books you own and the stories in your membership, in one library.
Try before you buy
Try a haiku lesson free: Bashō's "Coming Upon a Mountain Path"
Flip through a full lesson from Learn Japanese Through Haiku: Bashō, one of the ten books in this bundle, exactly as it appears: the haiku, every word explained, the commentary with its vocabulary, and what the poem means. Then hear the haiku read aloud, and the commentary.
Trouble viewing? Open the sample PDF in a new tab.
山路来て (Coming upon a mountain path) The haiku
山路来て (Coming upon a mountain path) Commentary
The Culture bundle has haiku by Bashō, Buson, Issa and Shiki, plus Jokes in Japanese, Ninja Penguin's tour of Japan, Japanese Names and Karate Vocabulary, all with audio.









