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Current event Texts in Japanese for Beginners Updated Frequently
What’s on in Japan is written only in hiragana and katakana. The standard and romaji texts are also available.
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Exploring Nihongo!
Exploring Nihongo!
English translation and explanation of signs and advertisements in trains, and headlines and ads from newspapers and magazines. Aug. 31 Updated
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Great opportunities for premium subscribers to learn Japanese and learn about Japan at no cost with the help of volunteer Japanese coaches. One-to-one lesson and Hiragana Times is used as the text.
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Hiragana Times Archive
Yokai Culture: International Couple Publishes a Unique Book about Japanese Yokai Jul.
28
Did you know that the sushi roll called kappa maki takes its name from the kappa, one of the many legendary Japanese folk creatures known as yokai? Yokai-related phrases such as “Tengu ni naru,” an idiom that means “someone who is overly self-confident,” ...(From September Issue 2008)
Company Director Enjoys her Dream Job Jul.
28
“I’m enjoying my life doing a job I want to do,” announcer and director of SUCCEED Inc, ONO Keiko, says with a smile. You may not know ONO, but you have possibly heard her voice at places like vending machines and your bank’s automated telephone message system. ...(From August Issue 2008)
Kanji will Disappear from the Japanese Language Jul.
28
Prime Minister ASO’s frequent misreading of kanji at the Diet has made people laugh, but it seems the Japanese’s ability to read and write kanji is deteriorating recently. In the midst of this, the book “The Japanese Language in the Global Age” by YOKOGAKI Yuzo, a professor of the Japanese language who advocates the disuse of kanji, will be published soon. ...(From April Issue 2009)
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Hiragana Times Digital Books
Hiragana Times Digital Books: Audio Series "Insight into Japan"
This is a compilation of “Insight into Japan” stories published in the Hiragana Times. While you are listening to the audio, you can read the text and turn the pages just like a print magazine. You can also download and print the texts. In addition, you can download the audio to mobile devices such as an iPod. Digital Books list page
