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Rung one
The two alphabetsbefore N5
You can't read anything yet, and that's fine. Hiragana and katakana take most people a week or two, and nothing else works until they're done. Don't learn romaji habits you'll have to unlearn.
From our shelf
- Learn hiragana free at The Japanese Page · the full set of lessons, no sign-up
- Learn katakana free at The Japanese Page · the other alphabet, same treatment
- Hiragana course on Makoto+ · a free-tier online course — sign-up, but no credit card
- Hiragana and Katakana, the Basics of Japanese · the workbooks, if you want paper
Not ours, still the right answer
And two other people's that we happily recommend:
- Tofugu's hiragana guide · the mnemonics work
- Real Kana · drilling, nothing else
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Rung two
First sentencesbefore N5 – N5
You know the kana and perhaps a hundred words. You can read a sentence if it's short and you're told what the kanji say. What you need now is volume, not difficulty — lots of very easy sentences until they stop feeling like puzzles.
From our shelf · 4 books at this level
From our shelf
- Beginning Japanese Phrases podcast · free, ninety episodes, a phrase at a time
- Japanese grammar lessons · free, and the reason a sentence stops being a puzzle
- Beginning Japanese Phrases, Volumes 1-3 · the podcast in book form
- Yonde Miyo~, Volumes 1-5 · short readings in mostly kana
- Beginning Japanese 30 Day Chōsen
Not ours, still the right answer
And one of theirs:
- Tadoku free graded readers · level 0 is genuinely level 0
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Rung three
Your first real storiesN5 – N4
You can follow a short story with furigana on every kanji and a vocabulary note for anything uncommon. This is where our books start, and where most people discover that reading Japanese is a thing they can do.
From our shelf · 14 books at this level
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Rung four
Folktales at a steady paceN4
Sentences get longer and nobody is simplifying much any more. This is the biggest rung in our catalog, and the one most learners spend the longest on. Read several before moving up — breadth at one level beats climbing too early.
From our shelf · 21 books at this level
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Rung five
Essays and real structureN4 – N3
You're reading expository prose now, not just narrative: history, culture, biography. Sentences carry subordinate clauses and the vocabulary is specific rather than general. This is the rung most learners get stuck below, and the reason this catalog exists.
From our shelf · 9 books at this level
Intermediate Japanese Reader Volume 1: The Trolley Cart
Japanese History & Essays Volume 1: Samurai & Daimyo
Japanese History & Essays Volume 3: 20th Century Japanese Stories
Japanese History & Essays Volume 4: Essays on Modern Japan
Japanese History & Essays Volume 5: Ukiyo-e
Japanese History & Essays Volume 6: Tunnels
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Rung six
Past the intermediate wallN3 – N2
Sentences roughly half again as long as the folktales, dense kanji, and no allowances made. If you can read these comfortably, very little is closed to you — what's left is vocabulary and time.
From our shelf · 2 books at this level
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Rung seven
Native materialN2 and beyond
Written for Japanese people, with nothing adjusted for you. We don't publish anything at this rung, and we'd be doing you a disservice by pretending otherwise. Here is where we'd actually point you.
This rung is where our catalog ends. If you get here using our books, that was the whole point, and the right next step is somebody else's shelf.
Not ours, still the right answer
All of these are somebody else's, and all of them are good:
- NHK News Web Easy · real news, furigana, free, updated daily
- Satori Reader · paid, superb, built for exactly this gap
- Aozora Bunko · out-of-copyright literature, free — start with Akutagawa's short stories
- よつばと！ and other slice-of-life manga · furigana throughout, everyday speech
