Learn Japanese with Stories Volume 11: Kachi Kachi Yama

Clay & Yumi Boutwell · Makoto Press

Upper Beginner JLPT N5–N4 Read it in the app

Crackling Mountain: the rabbit, the tanuki, and a famously unsparing revenge.

Kachi Kachi Yama ("Crackling Mountain") is one of Japan's most famous folktales — and one of its darkest. A wicked tanuki, a grieving old man, and a clever rabbit with a long memory and a patient plan. It's not a very pleasant story, but every Japanese person knows it, and now you will too. Because it's longer than our usual tales, we've split it into three digestible parts, each with its own audio.

Buy the paperback on Amazon 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.

Every level on this site was measured from the book's own Japanese rather than assigned by feel. The numbers below are what the measurement saw, so you can judge the fit yourself instead of taking our word for it.

Distinct kanji: 101
Kanji density: 15.1%
Average sentence: 19.3
N5–N3 vocabulary: 82.2%
Pages: 99

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+ Sentence Explorer, tap any sentence for a breakdown.

The rest of the Learn Japanese with Stories series

Learn Japanese with Stories Volume 1: Hikoichi

Learn Japanese with Stories #2: Momotaro

Learn Japanese with Stories Volume 3: The Inch-High Samurai

Japanese Reader Collection Volume 4: The Mouse Bride

Learn Japanese with Stories Volume 5: The Cut-Tongue Sparrow

Japanese Reader Collection 06 - Yuki Onna

Others at this level

Frank and the Obaasan - Volume 2

Where to buy

Buy the paperback on Amazon 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.