Frank and the Obaasan Volume 1-2 Digital BUNDLE for Beginners [eBooks + Audio + Anki + Japanese Explorer App]

Frank and the Obaasan, a Japanese Reader for Beginners [Digital Download Only] - The Japan Shop

Frank and the Obaasan Volume 1-2 Digital BUNDLE for Beginners [eBooks + Audio + Anki + Japanese Explorer App]

Name: Frank and the Obaasan Volume 1-2 Digital BUNDLE for Beginners [eBooks + Audio + Anki + Japanese Explorer App]
Brand: The Japan Shop
SKU: 1581639761956
Price: 9.98 USD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 5.0 (6 reviews)

$ 9.98

100% Money-Back Guarantee If you are unhappy with your bundle for any reason within 60 days, we will either refund you or swap it for a different bundle better suited to your needs. We aren't happy if our products aren't helping you learn Japanese!

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.

Browse the bundles Compare Makoto+ plans Get the free app

Samurai or Shogun member? See which stories you can already read in the app

If you are a Samurai member, you can read these 15 stories in the Makoto+ Japanese Explorer app right now:

Frank and the Obaasan - Volume 11 The Encounter · 2 Mizu, the Best Thing in the Universe · 3 Sushi is Not Human · 4 Sushi is Something to Eat · 5 Frank is an Alien but not from America · 6 Frank Needs a Finmupputto · 7 Frank Finds the Finmupputto · 8 Frank Buys Natto · 9 Natto is Cheap! · 10 Fly Me to the Moon · 11 Take Off! · 12 How the War Began · 13 Revenge or Forgiveness? · 14 Boarded! · 15 The Judgement Seat

And if you are Shogun, you also have access to these 10 stories:

Frank and the Obaasan - Volume 21: Revenge of Kitti-chan! · 2: The Most Kawaii Thing · 3: Where is the Kawaii Thing · 4: Aboard a Shinkansen to Tokyo · 5: The Old Man · 6: Obaasan Power · 7: Distracted by Ice Cream · 8: Distracted by Senbei · 9: The Fate of the Universe is Over · 10: Pancakes as a Reward

Stories in your membership rotate monthly and don't include downloads like PDFs, ePubs, MP3s or Anki decks. If you just want to read these stories in the app, they're already yours. Buying the bundle keeps all of its stories in the app for good, plus all the downloads.

Not a Makoto+ member? Become one to save up to 20% on this bundle AND get access to up to 200 stories as part of your membership.

Current as of October 2026.

Digital Only Bulk Discount - Remember, buy more to save more. Add two digital bundles to your cart and get an automatic 5% off your entire digital order; Buy three, get 10% off; Buy five or more and get a whopping 20% off your entire digital order! No coupon is needed!

Description

Frank and the Obaasan Volume 1 is a beginner Japanese reader with full furigana and native audio, an easy first step before longer graded readers. Bilingual on the page: the Japanese text with a full English translation, vocabulary and grammar notes.

Level

N5

CEFR A1 · beginner

N5

N4

N3

N2

N1

Just startingNative material

Best alongside Genki I Furigana on every kanji

From Clay & Yumi, teaching Japanese since 2002. Every story narrated by Yumi, a native speaker.

NOTE: Both Frank and the Obaasan volumes are also included in our Beri-Beri-Shoshinsha Beginner’s Bundle —over a dozen eBooks, sound files, and multiple formats in one money-saving package. But if you are only interested in getting the Frank stories, this is the cheaper bundle.

Frank & the Obaasan Saga

🆕 Now with Makoto+ Japanese Explorer!

Dive into 25 action-packed sci-fi episodes with Frank & the Obaasan—your perfect beginner-to-upper-beginner reader in PDF & ePub. Every story comes fully glossed with English summaries, FREE mp3 audio, and Anki decks for targeted vocab review. Plus, unlock every sentence in the Makoto+ Japanese Explorer for interactive breakdowns, quizzes, and story-mode reading—all included with one simple purchase!

▶️ Sample Chapter 3: “Sushi Isn’t Human”

Listen to Episode 3 as you read!

🎬 Season 3 Coming Soon!

All updates—including Book 3—are free for every digital bundle. Stay tuned for the next adventure!

🔍 What is the Makoto+ Japanese Explorer?

An interactive online toolkit that unlocks every sentence and story in Frank & the Obaasan for:

Word-by-word breakdowns with grammar & vocab notes
Native & high-quality TTS audio on demand
Interactive Story Mode—read along, click definitions, and progress at your own pace
Quizzes & games to reinforce comprehension

Unlock via the codes in your “Read Me First” file in Dropbox—no extra cost!

How to Use This Reader

Read each episode in Japanese—furigana over every kanji
Use the Makoto+ Japanese Explorer for deeper parsing & audio
Check your understanding with the English summary (don’t peek too soon!)
Listen & shadow with the free MP3s (download link on the last page)

What’s Inside

🔸 25 Episodes—15 in Vol. 1, 10 in Vol. 2, each a complete story arc
🔸 Full Gloss breaks down every word & grammar point
🔸 English Summaries at the end of each episode
🔸 Furigana on every kanji
🔸 FREE MP3s—listen while you read (link on last page)
🔸 FREE Anki Flashcard Deck—master the vocabulary using the free Anki flashcard software
🔸 Makoto+ Japanese Explorer Story Mode—click to define, highlight, and quiz

P.S. All our bundles include:

✅ Multiple formats (PDF, ePub, MP3s; many include Anki decks)
✅ One-time payment & free updates forever
✅ Discount vs. Amazon individual purchases
✅ Instant download gratification

✅ 100% money back guarantee if you find it too hard or too easy or simply don't like it!

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to know kanji?

No—every kanji has furigana. If you can read hiragana, you’ll follow the story just fine. As you read, however, try to "get to know" the kanji. The more kanji you know, the more enjoyable Japanese is.

How do I get the MP3s?

Download links are on the last page of each volume—just click and save the ZIP file or open individual files.

What is the Makoto+ Japanese Explorer?

It’s your interactive companion—unlock every story for word-by-word explanations, TTS audio, and Story Mode quizzes.

What if it’s too easy or hard?

No worries—if it’s not the right level, just let us know. We’ll swap in a better bundle or refund you.

Buy Frank & the Obaasan Now

Best reader ever!

I won't tell you how many languages I've studied from high school and university on into old age, but I will say these are among the best readers I've seen in any language. They convey grammar concepts and vocabulary while being amusing to read.

All they need is a section in the back where one could look up stroke order diagrams for the Kanji 🥲

Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed the silliness. We need to get back to the stories. After all, the earth needs saving again!

Funny

Perfect for beginners

Fun little read

Really enjoyed reading this, I hope theres more to come!

Good for beginners

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.

Feeling afraid of start reading Japanese? Definitely should try this!

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.

5 stars: 6 (100%)
4 stars: 0 (0%)
3 stars: 0 (0%)
2 stars: 0 (0%)
1 star: 0 (0%)

Best reader ever!

I won't tell you how many languages I've studied from high school and university on into old age, but I will say these are among the best readers I've seen in any language. They convey grammar concepts and vocabulary while being amusing to read.

All they need is a section in the back where one could look up stroke order diagrams for the Kanji 🥲

Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed the silliness. We need to get back to the stories. After all, the earth needs saving again!

Funny

Perfect for beginners

Fun little read

Really enjoyed reading this, I hope theres more to come!

Good for beginners

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.

Feeling afraid of start reading Japanese? Definitely should try this!

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.

Great for beginners

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？

So from the crossword book (also excellent) it seems that there are four Frank and the Obaasan books, but I only see the first two on your site. I'd certainly purchase volumes three and four, if only I could find them. Where should I look?

The Japan Shop

We don't have a full crossword book but so far only two Frank and the Obaasan books--thanks for reminding me to get back to that saga! It's possible you saw something referring to four "chapters"? Originally we released Frank and the Obaasan as chapters.

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Frank and the Obaasan Volume 1-2 Digital BUNDLE for Beginners [eBooks + Audio + Anki + Japanese Explorer App]