About Hiragana Times Magazine
Supported over 30 years by Japan fans of the world!
Innovative editing, that you can learn Japanese language at the same time.
The monthly magazine that introduces the real Japan to the world, in English and Japanese
Hiragana Times introduces the real Japan to non-Japanese by looking at Japan as an attractive, unique town in the global village. Inside Hiragana Times, the world of Japan becomes reality, and one can experience the cultural frontier between Japan and the rest of the world. Hiragana Times has been published since 1986 and has readers in more than 100 countries. Readers are mainly in their 20s and 30s, but the number of middle-aged and elderly readers has been rapidly increasing in recent years.
Hiragana Times is a truly unique magazine in which you can study language while learning about Japan. Each Japanese paragraph is followed by its English translation or vice versa, and furigana are placed below each kanji to make Japanese study even easier.Digital version provides audio.
ありのままの日本を紹介する日英バイリンガルマガジン
ひらがなタイムズは生きた日本の知識を吸収しながら、語学の学習も同時にできるユニークな雑誌です。英語と日本語が段落ごとに交互に掲載され、漢字には外国人が読みやすいようにひらがなのルビがつけてあります。このコンセプトが高く評価され、ＮＴＴ主催の全国タウン誌フェスティバルでは大賞を2度、企画賞を1度受賞しました。また、掲載記事は大学などの英語、または日本語試験問題にしばしば採用されています。
Read by these people
- Those who would like to know real Japan
- Those who would like to live in Japan someday
- Those who would like to learn Japanese language, while enjoying
On the view point of foreign residents, every month we introduce the current topics, in easy to understand manner, from Japanese culture to trend and business. So you will learn what is happening now in Japan through interesting articles, including what kind of food Japanese enjoy, how they live and are concerned, and such. Once you read it, you will not be able to stop reading. Published in 1986 and read by the people of over hundred countries.
日本人の方には、自らの英語学習に加え、『外国人に教える日本学』として活用されています。
外国人との会話に即使える話題が豊富なので、日本語教師を含め外国人と英語で交流している日本人たちにも多く読まれています。外国人が本当に知りたいのは日本人の生活に密着した情報、そして普段の日本語です。日本の話題、トレンドなど、社会で起きていることや日本語の学び方などをやさしく解説していますので、そっくり外国人との会話に活用できます。外国人へのプレゼントとしても喜ばれています。また、日本人自身にとっても自分の国に関する親しみある話題が英語になっているため、英語の知識が取り込みやすく実践的な英語学習に最適です。ひらがなタイムズは、1986年の創刊。100ヶ国以上の人々に読まれている日英バイリンガルマガジンです。
Editing Features
Furigana (Hiragana) is placed on each kanji, and English word on katakana
For all kanji, furigana (hiragana) is placed in the magazine, allowing one to learn kanji at the same time as reading in hiragana. Usually furigana is placed above on kanji, but here it is placed below kanji so that you can challenge kanji katakana first. For katakana which was adopted from English and is confusing for Japanese learners, original English is placed.
English sentence blocks and Japanese sentence blocks are alternately displayed
English sentence blocks and Japanese sentence blocks are alternately displayed.
You can easily compare the English sentence with the Japanese sentence and grasp the meaning without a dictionary.
Articles are current news and topics on Japan
You can obtain knowledge of current Japan and study the language at the same time. Contents are reliable since articles are written by professional Japanese writers.
Best for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) preparation
JLPT places an importance on comprehension (the ability to read and understand). It applies to hearing tests, too. Since it is hard to predict the JLPT questions, it is difficult to know how to prepare for the test. Hiragana Times, which includes many expressions and kanji that often appear in the tests, especially N2 and N1, is one of the best sources to improve your comprehension, for the test.
Our Achievements
- Our articles are used each year in some Japanese university English exams. Some articles are included in school textbooks. In addition our Japanese texts are used by overseas universities.
- Our sample sentences have been used in a well-known online dictionary.
- Data from our articles has been used by international companies and by linguistic departments in universities to improve translations.
- Our articles have been featured in commercial magazines, including a magazine for the hotel trade and a magazine published in other language.
- Our articles have been used by schools and companies as educational texts for improving both Japanese and English skills.
- All translated sentences have been converted into Braille.
- Hiragana Times has twice been awarded the Grand Prize at the NTT All Japan Town Magazine Festival.