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READ real Japanese Today! By choosing short stories, the intimidation factor is greatly reduced. Not only that, but we divide the story up into tiny, easy-to-swallow segments with complete explanations to give you confidence as you read real Japanese page by page.

Perfect for upper beginner level students of Japanese.

BONUS! Get FREE MP3s of the story read by a native Japanese voice actress, one read at normal speed and one read slowly. Listen while reading. The link to the MP3s is found on the last page.

EXTRA BONUS! Included with the MP3s, are PDFs of all the vocabulary and grammar points. Feel free to print these out to use while reading.

Now with Furigana! All our readers now have furigana in both the paperback and Kindle versions. Furigana is the small hiragana over the kanji–most devices support this new feature.

Have you studied for a year or two but just don’t feel like you are progressing? This book is for you too. We suggest reading the Japanese only section first (includes furigana) and then go through the line-by-line running gloss section to cement understanding and learn vocabulary.

  • All Japanese have furigana (printed version and Kindle version on supported devices (most new devices)) and romaji for those starting out.
  • GRAMMAR: Tap the grammar icon (Kindle version) to zoom to fuller explanations. Tap the back button to return to the text
  • The classic Hans Christian Andersen The Little Match Girl story presented in three unique ways.
  • GLOSS: Read the story with a running gloss—understand completely. Every sentence is broken down word-for-word and with English explanation of the grammar.
  • JAPANESE ONLY: The full story in Japanese only (without the running gloss) is also provided so you can practice reading without interruption.
  • ENGLISH SUMMARY: Finally, we have included a simple and mostly literal English translation for you to check your understanding (Don’t cheat! Work through the Japanese first!).\
  • Short stories makes reading full Japanese texts possible.
  • Download the FREE MP3s to listen while you study.

The Little Match Girl

The famous Hans Christian Andersen short story is popular in Japan and has found its way into Japanese culture being a well-known tale in Japan. The sad story is about a dying little girl’s dreams and desires on a cold New Year’s Eve. It was first published in 1845 in Danish.

Finally, we invite the reader to contact us with questions or requests for future Japanese readers. You will find our personal email addresses in the book. To your Japanese!

Click here to learn more.

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