Japanese Word Origins 1

Clay & Yumi Boutwell · Makoto Press

Upper Beginner JLPT N5–N4 Read it in the app

Stories behind the words and ways to use them today

Digital edition at The Japan Shop

Is this the right level for you?

Upper Beginner · JLPT N5–N4. Short sentences, small kanji range. Where to start if you've finished a first textbook.

See where this sits on the Reading Ladder ›

What is in the book

Furigana over every kanji, so nothing stops you mid-sentence.
Native audio at two speeds — slow to follow along, natural to test yourself.
Line-by-line vocabulary with the readings and the grammar notes in place.
A full English version, close enough to the Japanese to decode it with.
Readable in the Makoto+ Japanese Explorer, tap any sentence for a breakdown.

Others at this level

Inazuma 1: Japanese Honorifics & Pronouns

Japanese Onomatopoeia 1

Learn Japanese Through Haiku: Masaoka Shiki

Learn Japanese Through Haiku: Further Journeys with Bashō

Learn Japanese Through Haiku: Kobayashi Issa

Learn Japanese Through Haiku: Yosa Buson

Where to buy

Digital edition at The Japan Shop

Clay & Yumi Boutwell are participants in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, which means we may receive a commission when you buy a book through a link on this page. It costs you nothing extra, and it does not affect which books we recommend or where we place them on the levels.