I’ve been trying to learn Japanese for about one and a half years now. My goal always was to read manga in Japanese. I had my ups and downs and even took a break from studying for a couple of months last year. It became just too frustrating and was more like an everyday burden than fun. But this all changed when I booked my flight to Toyko last October (2012).
Now I had a good reason to start learning again and knew that even the slightest knowledge of the language would come in very handy on my visit in February 2013.
That was motivation enough to keep me studying daily. I even took some private Japanese classes but that wasn’t that helpful. I soon realized that there is a reason why Japanese people sometimes say that they wouldn’t properly understand (grammatically!) their language themselves.
And because Japanese people do love manga, they made a great comic out of it:日本人の知らない日本語 (Japanese people take Japanese for granted). Many people want to learn a new language for the primary reason to speak it in their specific country. That wasn’t quite the case for me when I started to learn Japanese. I always loved Japanese films and the Japanese culture itself but I wanted to be able to read Japanese books and maybe play a video game in Japanese.
That was the reason why I started in the first place. I already read some manga back then (only by Naoki Urasawa) but I was more into western comics. It was within the last year that I discovered my love for Japanese comics and naturally, it became my goal to read manga in their original language: Japanese.
I once learned English by watching movies with (English) subtitles, so I thought “why shouldn’t the reading-route work with Japanese too.” On my trip to Tokyo, I bought a big bunch of books and manga. So many that my girlfriend complained that she couldn’t buy as much for herself as she wanted to because my books already were too heavy and maxed out our allowed weight. I usually prefer more mature stories and thus mangaka like Naoki Urasawa, Osamu Tezuka, and Jiro Taniguchi.
Unfortunately, the books by these authors lack furigana small Japanese figures which are placed above all Kanji and give the reading of it. This makes looking up an unknown word so much easier.
Especially when you’re still working on a basic vocabulary like me, these are existential. But now let’s talk about some good manga with furigana, to begin with, or easy to read manga for Japanese beginners.
Table of Contents
So here we go, my list of easy-to-read manga for Japanese beginners. (This is only part one, so you know what that could mean ;)
Regarding the links: (If you buy the books through my links, I’ll get a small referral fee which will be used to buy even more awesome books for review.) If you don’t know where and how to buy Japanese manga, visit my guide on Where to buy Japanese manga
If you’re in search of some transparent book covers to wrap your manga, just click on the link!
1. よつばと！(Yotsuba!)
The obvious choice and highly recommended when it comes to manga for Japanese beginners. A rather simple language and because of the setting of a young child experiencing everyday problems and everyday life, the vocabulary will be of great use for every beginner.
It’s really fun to see that my top recommendations haven’t changed over the last few years. Yotsuba& is still as fun and charming as ever. I just received the latest volume (Vol. 15) and am enjoying it outside on the balcony with a well-chilled glass of lemonade next to me.
Yostuba& started in 2003 and is still very popular in Japan and is read by people of all ages. Yotsubato has a great fan base in the Japanese learning community as well and is widely considered to be the best manga for learning Japanese in the beginning. Have fun following Yotsuba discovering the world even if you are a 26-year-old youngster like me.
The whole manga has furigana and the font is quite big and easy to read. The format is slightly bigger than the standard JUMP manga (like the current editions of One Piece, Naruto, etc.) which is also a plus in my book. I made a comparison of Japanese manga sizes in my post on transparent book covers so you get a feel for it.
New volumes are appearing rarely, so you always have to wait a couple of years for a new tankobon (単行本) to be released. Volume 15 just hit the streets in 2021 and till today no new volume is in sight.
Yotsuba& volume one is now sold out for nearly 3 years (at least it’s never available when I’m looking for it). The reprint is inevitable at some point because the manga is still running and super popular. You don’t miss a lot when starting with Vol. 2 and maybe you’ll just read the first volume in English to get a feel for the story and its characters.
- Buy Yotsubato at CDJapan
If you buy the book through my link, I’ll get a small referral fee which will be used to buy even more awesome books for review. Thanks for your support!
And if you’re like me you may want to order the English edition as well. That’s how I managed my way through Dragon Ball the first time around. And believe me between all the Japanese slang (Dragon Ball) it’s great to read a good translation from time to time to make sure that you follow the story.
Tip:
Use the Nihongo Dictionary App to take a picture with your phone and automatically scan all writing for the dictionary entries. Works like a charm and even lets you attach the picture to a dictionary entry (or many).
2. ドラゴンボール 完全版 (Dragonball – The complete edition)
I have never watched Dragonball as a kid and usually really don’t like all these Jump comics with endless fights and dramatic gestures. I tried One Piece, Bleach, and Naruto but it’s just not my cup of tea. So I always thought that Dragonball was more or less the same. Big mistake.
When I was in Tokyo I picked up the first volume of the manga at a Book Off. (A big Japanese store chain that sells used books, video games, CDs & DVDs.) I liked the drawings and the kinda “mysterious” setting somewhere between sci-fi and mystery. And there is not that much fighting going on. At least not in the first two volumes.
I just started reading Dragonball last week and also bought the German version of the manga as a little helper when I’m stuck or not quite sure if I got the story right. So far it’s quite fun, not too difficult, and a very nice read. Even for a Japanese beginner like me.
But what makes this ドラゴンボール 01 完全版 extra great for us is the big format the “complete edition” or 完全版 is printed in. Glorious color pages at the beginning and a very clean print throughout the book on good paper.
Just tried to read some Hunter x Hunter which is printed in the usual super small format all Jump manga are done in and was struggling to read some of the Furigana. Dragonball spoiled me.
- Buy the Dragon Ball 完全版 at CDJapan
If you buy the book through my link, I’ll get a small referral fee which will be used to buy even more awesome books for review. Thanks for your support!
Side note: I recently bought a “new” version of Dragon Ball which tells the whole story again but very much boils the whole epic story down to just a couple of volumes.
The drawings are in Chibi style, the manga is in full color and the Japanese is quite simple (easier than the original). It’s called Dragon Ball SD and is a great one to pick up as well.
The first fifty or so pages of the manga are in glorious color.
3. しろくまカフェ (Shirokuma Café)
I watched the anime together with my girlfriend and we quite enjoyed it. Or maybe we just really wanted to like it because honestly, it’s a little dull. The story is about a lazy Panda who is a regular customer at an organic food & drinks joint which is operated by an Ice Bear. Sounds like fun right?
Shirokuma-Kun even tries to explain very alike sounding Japanese words to the Panda which is not exactly a bad thing for us Japanese beginners. The manga is printed in the same big format as the Dragonball complete edition and is thus very comfortable to read.
And if I should pick a manga in Japanese, to begin with, it would probably be this one.
The stories are short, the vocabulary is quite easy and slang is nearly nonexistent. There are a total of four volumes that look really nice together on the bookshelf. Each is named after a different fruit flavor. Nice idea, I like that and now you even have another reason to pick up these books.
- Buy Shirokuma Café at CDJapan
If you buy the book through my link, I’ll get a small referral fee which will be used to buy even more awesome books for review. Thanks for your support!
4. チーズスイートホーム (Chi’s Sweet Home)
This is another one of these mangas with short & cute stories. A little bit like Shirokuma Café. Like I already mentioned I’m usually not into these kinds of comics, but the stories about a little cat exploring a new home are really cute.
And it hurts me to describe something as cute but there is no way around this word when you want to describe Chi’s Sweet Home.
It’s a super sweet story about a little kitten even your mother would like. Good for us: The vocab and story are easy to grasp. The pictures are nearly always self-explanatory and hands down there is not that much going on story-wise.
But for everyone who is just starting to read something in Japanese, this is a good one, to begin with. Trust me you don’t want to start with something overly complicated. It’s just too frustrating and when you begin reading Japanese it should be a rewarding experience.
And the Kindle digital edition:
For me, it’s very important that I don’t have to read those super tiny fonts especially when the text is written in Japanese. And it doesn’t make sense to print manga in these super tiny formats which Jump normally uses when it’s all about the pictures.
To give you a hint on how these manga compare in size I made another picture for you. Hope this helps. The smallest Yotsubato and Chi’s Sweet Home are “one size” bigger than the average Jump manga and quite comfortable to read. So you don’t have to worry about these.
I hope you like the post. Please drop me a line in the comments and if you’re kind enough I’ll soon post the second part with even more awesome and easy to read manga for Japanese beginners.
Update 2023:
Ten years later not much has changed when it comes to my favorite Japanese manga for beginners. I would still recommend exactly the titles I picked back then and am still reading the latest issue of Yotsubato when it’s hitting the shelves.
One side note though: I’m more and more leaning toward digital manga nowadays because you instantly have it available and you can use it with the screen-capture feature of the Nihongo dictionary App.
Update: You were kind enough and that’s why I made a couple more posts with easy to read manga goodness in Japanese.
Continue reading:
Vol. 02, Vol. 03, Vol. 04, Vol 05
Maybe you’re still looking for some good ways to learn Japanese or improve your grammar and speaking/listening skills. Check out my post about how I’m learning Japanese and my favorite podcast for learning Japanese.
Thanks a lot for all your constant support and kind words. Let’s read some great manga together! If you have any manga tips for beginners please share them in the comments.
just ordered the 鬼滅の刃 manga. I really want to know though where you got the protection covers for the mangas I can’t find them anywhere…
Yotsuba! is my personal favorite and truly a “must have” for anyone studying Japanese! I started reading these in English like 15 years ago, and was thrilled once I managed to understand them in Japanese and could thus make the switch :) Can’t even begin to count the number of times that I’ve re-read each tankoubon, and I usually carry one around in my backpack. Taking a short break now though as I very recently finished reading them all from the very beginning! It really is a shame that we only see a new one every 3rd or so year nowadays ever since 2015…
My second favorite would be Flying Witch, although there are times when it can be hard to understand due to the theme. But this particular series is actually _just_ as much about the everyday life of a young woman, as it is of witchcraft! The ease of read (i.e. grammar points and kanji) will depend on what the main characters are up to, but it’s generally a really nice and fun read and will also teach the reader about some cultural stuff every now and then!
Walking into a Book-Off and browsing manga, looking for something new that could be good for practicing Japanese, is something that I always look forward to doing every time I re-visit Japan <3 That's also how I stumbled across my third favorite: Hakaijuu. The cover picturing a monster of some sort peaked my curiosity and as I flipped through a few pages, I was quite surprised by how much I could actually understand – despite this being a disaster manga about monsters! Picked up three volumes to start with, then purchased another four, now I've read through all 21 twice since then and I'mma start all over again, now that I'm beginning to miss the cool premise and general feel/atmosphere to it ^^
Hello, Jacob? Can I buy a manga or any Japanese book from you?
初めまして！ディメティア.トムと申しますが、よろしくいたします！
友達申請の返事ありがとうございます。
喜んでお受けします。フェイスブックは開かない日も多いので、失礼することもあるかと思いますが、宜しくお願い申し上げます。
日本語の漢字の先生になりたい人です。日本に住んでいる時間が5年間でございます。1989から1994までです。
その時、東京の千代田区のお金持ち所に二年間すんでいました、それから、上智大学の寮に半年間、三重県の津市に二年間、そして三重県の伊賀上野に半年間ぐらい。1994五月にアメリカのカンザス州へ帰りました。帰ると水が得ない魚のようになりました。
では,
ご丁寧にありがとうございます。
Hey Jakob. Your blog has inspired me greatly as I start my Japanese studies. Thanks for all you have done here.
Thanks a lot Tom. I take it you already noticed that there are no hardcover versions of Yotsubato or Shirokuma Café. Just the versions I linked to inside the article. If you have more questions, feel free to drop me a comment :)
Yeah thought they looked like hardcover editions. I was thrown off by the slip covers as well as your clear protective covers which I may have to pick up now. I now understand it seems more common with manga to have slip covers even though they are soft cover. My birthday is in September so I will be treating myself! I read a lot of western comics. I am excited I have more books to addictively collect. ;-)
This page might be usefull for people that wants to learn Japanese from manga.
https://www.mangadou.jp/
You can read manga in Japanese and see an English translation of each word and sentence by clicking on it.
Looks nice. Are these manga specifically made for this website?
No, they aren’t. Most of them are manga that Japanese artists created just for fun, as a hobby.
I just pick up reading raw manga from google. I studied Japanese about 7 years ago, and learn more from my Japanese friends who studied in US. There’s a software called KanjiTomo which tell you the translation when you point your mouse to it. It’s convenient and I rely on it when I stumble upon a Kanji I don’t recognize. Sometimes is a good thing if you want to pickup the Manga you’re interested in and don’t have to worry too much is the Manga if too difficult. It may take a while to finish the chapter but at least I’ve enjoyed it while reading/learning.
Hey there, so I’m going to school in Fukuoka, Japan with my wife at a place called FFLC. They’re strict JLPT freaks… kind of scary actually… I honestly don’t super care to or feel the need to be a JLPT person who needs to pass.. I don’t think I want to go to University here so it’s whatever as we’ll be getting our associates degree anyway, so that works just fine for us. Anyway, my wife and popped up our site (http://nihonscope.com) last year to catalog our experience while in Japan and ever since then we’ve been looking for books to read like this so we could share it with our fellow classmates.. I’m not sure what exactly beginner means at times when people throw it around on blog posts and what not (I can see the scripts though so they seem ‘basic’)… this is where the JLPT stuff comes in… Since we are going to this school were just about to finish up on Minna No Nihongo book 1 which should be around the level of N5 and a tiny bit into 4 if I remember correctly… Would these books be in that level completely or do they bounce around? Tons of people at school are also looking round the net and I could just link over here to share this collect. Get a reading group going you know? Anyway, I apologize if I’m going on too much, end of the week and my brain is fried from school all day long! Thanks. PS: Also any tips on listening comprehension, I’m absolutely so horrible at it at times it’s quite embarrassing actually.
I am a college student , and i wanted to know did you study Japanese in college or after college by yourself.
Because i just finished my first year in the English department in my language college, and from the start I was hesitating between choosing the English language or the Japanese language in college. In the end I chose English because i have been learning it from a young age so it is not as foreign to me as Japanese which i know a little bit of because i watched anime and love it. But I started hesitating again after my exams because I have the option to change my department , but i am afraid to choose something I don’t know anything about as my main language in work. especially because i am like you in getting frustrated because of languages and a little bit lazy to study. That is why i wanted to know your experience in learning Japanese.and if you are studying Japanese professionally or as a hobby ?
Hey Marianne, I started self-studying Japanese shortly before I entered university. Never learned it professionally or had any classes for it. But I definitely feel you: Balancing your colege workload alongside learning Japanese sure is a task. But not unmanageable. The biggest problem for me always was to get into my studying routine again after pausing a little to cram hard for some end exams.
So your opinion is that even if i didn’t take courses i can study it myself in my vacation? But then will the result be as if i had studied it in college ? And can you tell me the steps i should do after learning hiragana and katakana ?
Just studying in your vacation won’t be enough and good classes are always the better choice. But to find decent Japanese course can be tricky and wasn’t an option for me. This blog is mainly centered around the Japanese self learner or people who want to supplement their classes.
Check this guide, everything in there on how I would started learning Japanese:
https://japanesetease.net/how-i-learn-japanese-my-essentials/
Thanks ?
How long do you think I would have to know Japanese to read some of these
Well I have been learning japanese for 6 months but that didn’t help me one bit when I bought my first japanese manga. In order to read japanese you first have to be able to translate the alphabet. Hiragana, katakana, and Kanji. Kanji makes reading super hard because there are so many. But if you really want to be able to read japanese, first memorize hiragana and katakana completely (this took me about a week). Then try out wanikani.com this will teach you how to identify kanji for free. After that you can look up the romanji, that you got from translating, online and identify the kanji using jisho.org to be able to translate the book. however if you want to read fluently then that would take a few years of hard learning
日本人の知らない日本語, why couldn’t you just say japanese people that don’t know japanese instead of Japanese people take Japanese for granted? in a way your leading people who i use to be to the wrong path!
Because they obviously know how to speak their mother tongue but don’t reflect why they’re using a specific tense or grammar construction and thus can#t explain it properly.
Thanks. These recommendations are much appreciated! :D
Thanks for this great guide, i’m near enough a beginner Japanese learner, memorised hiragana and katakana and now working through Genki 1 and also using the Wanikani website. I’ve always been more of an anime fan than a manga fan but this will be a great practical way to put my learning to the test once i’ve got a bit more study done.
Sounds great Paul. I have always been a big Comic fan but didn’t really read many manga before studying Japanese. I was much more into classic Western series like Preacher, Fables and basically the whole Vertigo (DC) lineup. But I’m sure you’ll fall in love with manga as well :)
Just started to watch Steins; Gate after playing the VN and struggling to get the true ending. Loved Ping Pong and Toradora. Any recommendation for someone who’s rarely watching any Anime?
Hi, completely forgot I posted this, so sorry for the ridiculously late reply. Regarding recommended anime, I actually got into anime later in life (in my early 30’s) so am a little inexperienced, but from the ones I’ve watched up to now I’d recommend Cowboy Bebop, and Gurren Laggen was quite good as well
Cowboy Bebop is a classic, right?! Just ordered Steins; Gate on Blu from the US. Loved the VN so much that I just had to own this on Blu as well.
I just started to read your Blog and it´s absolutely perfect! I learn Japanese now about 1 year and (thx to your blog) I´m just reading Yotsubato!
Its good for Japanese Beginner! (Ich bin auch Deutsch :)) 1 Question I have: Do you buy from CDJapan? I´d want to buy there soon! May u could give me any review?
Hey Morten, yes I’m buying from CDjapan. Already wrote a little review of sorts here
https://japanesetease.net/guide-where-to-buy-japanese-manga-and-books/
It’s a great and convenient shop – Never had to pay taxes on books because of the mere 7% Mwst in Germany. So everything below a hundred Euros in total value will be fine.
The pandaManga seems like the one I might try when I progress furter.
Definitely do so and let me know your thoughts. It’s a cool title to begin with. The bigger format is nice as well.
Nice. I just bought Yotsuba 2 and Dragonball 1 (in English and Japanese for £20) on Amazon. A lot of it is on Amazon now so that’s cool. I need to kick start my Japanese again, I’m getting lazy!
Nice list of manga to read! Too bad I didn’t buy the manga in the list when I was in Japan. ^^ Very nice blog btw. The articles seem very interesting and I will definitely check them out. I’ve been learning Japanese for 6 months and I need more learning material to progress. I’m happy to have found your website.
Just found this website and article and I’m boosted. Have been studying
Japanese for about 4 years off and on and never breached intermediate…
but now I’m 100 hours into iKnow with 3000 vocab words, and am
listening and reading basic Japanese… Can’t wait to start reading
these!! I’ll become fluent as quickly as possible :-) just my cup of
tea, iKnow is the best thing to happen to Japanese. I study while
driving on my Android headunit.. in stop in go I can study an hour a day
while driving and even if i can’t do anything else I still keep my
vocab, listening and reading up without issue!
iKnow is my core
studying, as I finished Genki 1 and 2.. and at that point it’s more
about something you find fun then anything else.
Wow, you’re doing iKnow on your phone while driving if I understood you correctly? How exactly are you doing that, I’m intrigued :) And definitely congrats on your Japanese progress. A 100 hours into iKnow is definitely time well spent.
Hi. Why “to” is silent in 「よつばと」？ I am new :)
The book in english would be Yotsuba “And”
‘To’ here isn’t apart of her name but similar to the naming system in the chapter.
Yotsuba ‘to’ Ame (Yotsuba and Rain)
よつば と 雨
Thanks a million! make sense now.
Does it takes long to arrive? Once I bought a Chinese book and it took 3 months to arrive! I live literally on the other side of the world compared to Japan.
CDjapan usually takes around 2 weeks to arrive (Europe). Should be much different for the rest of the world. Sometimes packages even arrived after 10 days.
Awesome! I just ordered issues 1-42 of Dragon ball. I’ve been looking for a way to practice outside of class, so I’m really looking forward to reading them. (That doesn’t include studying for N4)
Let me know how you’re managing with reading Dragon Ball in Japanese. Love the manga.
Any body please: I am trying to help transfer learn Japanese for grade, but can not be there to explain not understanding kanji from manga like this, do you know of an electronic dictionary that he can use and input kanji with touch? Thank you.
Most of the iOS or Android dictionary Apps have that feature. Just check Midori or Japanese (both great dictionaries as well) both have this hand writing input feature you want.
hi guys if your looking to read on manga books with translation then go to this website
No links to websites who don’t support the publisher, please. Apart from that, we’re interested in the Japanese originals on this site.
I’m looking for a website which have japanese manga with english translation. I figure that would help me a lot in learning.
I don’t know about a website that is offering this but you should check out the bi-langual edition of Doraemon in this post https://japanesetease.net/easy-to-read-manga-for-japanese-beginners-vol-02/
Really helpful! Thank you! I wanna buy me some other Manga from cdJapan, but where i can read wheter the Kanjis are written with Furigana or not ?
Unfortunately there is not much option but nearly everything that’s a JUMP manga will have Furigana. the same goes for all Shojo titles. Maybe I can help you just let me know if you’re unsure with a title.
can you commend me a manga which is written with furigana and with very basic vocabulary (maybe a kind of JUMP Manga or anything else)
Just check all the Easy to read manga posts. But definitely make sure to get Yotsuba
Soooo helpful!! ありがとございます！！
Thanks Maylin. Which manga did you pick?
Thanks so much for making this list; it was quite excellent of you. I’m thinking of picking some of these up for my local library in hopes that it might contribute to more international thinking in my area.
On the subject of Chi’s Sweet Home, I liked it because it was adorable, and I agree that the flow of the comic is easy to follow with the pictures, but as a beginner I also found it frustrating that both the cat and the kid mess up their pronunciation. I had to say their lines to myself several times and try to think of normal Japanese that matches. It’s good to be able to figure this sort of thing out later on, but as a beginner I think sticking to standard Japanese or at least adult slang is more practical. It is cute though.
Nice thought to give some to your local library. I get your feelings towards Chi though. It’s a little tiresome sometimes if you’re still struggling with relatively easy sentences. What basically everybody is who is interested in manga from this post. A couple of months ago I discovered Sweets Penguin which is really easy as well (with a bit more text though) and none of these childish abbreviations. Very great manga for beginners actually. You may want to check it out
https://japanesetease.net/easy-to-read-manga-for-japanese-beginners-vol-05/
Hello, Sorry to bother you..but I was wondering. Do you remember if in Chi’s sweet home there were many instances that Chi or Yohei mess up their pronunciations..or just a few? And are they somewhat easy to realize?
Chi’s sweet home would keep me very interested. It is adorable..Thank you. : )
It’s been quite some time since I read these (and don’t have the manga nearby) but it was definitely very manageable. Even for me as a super beginner back then. The stories are pretty much self explanatory through the pictures. Don’t know how much baby talk there actually was by Chi tbh but I didn’t remember it negatively. Hope that helped a little.
What about online versions?
Can’t find a digital copy of よつばと！=( Already tried amazon.jp and Honto.
There is none :) You have to go with the physical version (which is a really nice one in Yotsuba’s case)
I am trying to purchase in cdjapan site but it’s not giving me an option to ship within Japan. Am I doing something wrong?
I’m sorry Anj but I have absolutely no experience with shopping from cdjapan if you’re inside Japan. It’s probably best if you drop their customer service a mail. Very strange that there is no option available.
But if you’re in Japan why don’t you just go to a small comic store nearby? Always more fun to buy in person, at least for me.
I was interested in dragon ball manga but this is no longer available in most bookstores. Out of frustration i settled for Doraemon in Tsutaya cd and bookshop.
Thank you for the response though. :)
Just drop in a Book Off. I’m sure they have the whole 完全版 collection on hand.
@Kowski86:disqus Do you consider Tokyo Ghoul easy to read? Does it have the hiragana next to the kanjis’?
Never read it but judging from the couple episodes I’ve watched I guess it will be a rather tough one not only because of the ghoul bla bla vocab. But if you like the show just pick up a copy and see for yourself. Always nice to have something you can come back to and suddenly understand it.
I’m not great at Japanese at all but Tokyo Ghoul is definitely one of the more intermediate books, furigana only appears on some of the Kanji’s.
@JapaneseTease :disqus Is Tokyo Ghoul easy to read? Does it have the hiragana next to the kanjis’?
Hello guys!
I am a Japanese learner who love to read manga LIKE YOU! I of course know how interesting it would be to pick up a real physical book, however, that’ll be so expensive to get physical manga books, due to the cost itself and the shipping fee – especially when you’re living somewhere far from ASIA.
Thanks to the hard work of Apple, we are now able to purchase a lot of manga in the iBook Store with as low as only 400yen (app. 3.40 USD), and thanks to the new FAMILY sharing availability, we are now able to share the price together to get it as low as 1/6 the full price.
Therefore, I want to invite whomever of you to form a “family” group with me to share the prices of our favorite manga. Of course our interests might vary but I do believe that we should have something in common such as the Dragon Ball series or, the series I love even more below – Dragon Quest! Taking this series as an example, if we can form a group of 6, all of us will be able to purchase the full of 22 volumes with only 11.000yen/6 = 1833yen/person! And we can buy other series at that cheap too, as long as we have the same interests in those books!
Here’s the link: https://itun.es/jp/F3spK.l. Contact me at triet.tang@gmail.com! Looking forward!
You know that everyone you share the content with has access on your payment details, right.
Anyway, nice idea. But under the wrong post. Will move it to the one which is dedicated to digital Japanese manga.
Awesome job!! Thank you very much! I have been looking for some easy manga to read and these are perfect. <)
Thanks a lot Franco. Let me know which ones you picked. Maybe the colored Dragon Ball SD manga are something for you as well. https://japanesetease.net/closer-look-dragon-ball-sd-manga/
Yay! I haven’t dediced yet but I wanted to ask you, Do you recommend the CDJapan website? Isn’t there any other US based website that you would recommend? I recently went to Kinokuniya NYC and bought some cool children’s books to start practicing and they are great. I also bought a Death Note manga with furigana that I will read after I’m done with the easy ones :)
Definitely recommend cdjapan. Great service , all the books look perfect when they arrive and they’re always perfectly wrapped (two things I can’t say about ordering from amazon). Don’t have any experience with Kinokuniya myself but you can’t beat the original price when ordering directly from Japan. Would always try to cut out the middle-men if possible.
https://japanesetease.net/guide-where-to-buy-japanese-manga-and-books/
I haven’t even started learning japanese yet, I really want to start though. Where can i find a good beginners guide to japanese? It would be great if i could buy it in book format too. Is Shirokuma Cafe a good manga to start out with? Also isn’t there 5 volumes to shirokuma cafe?
I wrote a little guide on how I learn Japanese https://japanesetease.net/how-i-learn-japanese-my-essentials/ Just try my suggestions. I’m sure Genki in combination with Wani Kani will be awesome for you as well.
Yeah, Shirokuma Café has currently 5 volumes out but the stores are not really connected. Just start with the first one and see if you like the style of it. But honestly, if you#re just starting to learn I would try out the very first japanese graded readers issue after studying the first chapters of Genki https://japanesetease.net/japanese-graded-readers/
Definitely get it. I’ll post a new article about the new Dragon Ball SD manga soon. It’s probably right up your alley as well.
https://japanesetease.net/life-dr-slump-new-manga-purchases/
Hey! マラゴさん、Thank you for these suggestions! I Bought the entire box of 12 books of Yotsuba&! It’s really helping me out with my reading! I saw you have some plastics to protect the cover, where can I find it?
Really glad you enjoy Yotsuba, Fabio. Nothing bets some good reading practise while studying Japanese. I’m using thee wrappers to protect my manga
https://japanesetease.net/a-good-way-to-protect-your-manga-book-kun/
Not a necessity but I think it gives a nice touch :)
OMG you reply me and I just sow today! Thank you so much!!
I’m still learning Hiragana and Katakana. I’m reluctant to start on Kanji until i memorize and am able to swiftly read and write these characters. I know Kanji is a bigger beast altogether. I hope to bet some of these books so that I may advance in my studies. Thank you.
Hey Juan, thanks for sharing. It’s a old move on your part that you’re wiring with the Kanji until you can properly handle Hiragana + Katakana. Have you already tried out the Dr. Moku Apps? They helped me a great deal.
I actually never heard of Dr. Moku. I’m gonna look it up. You’re a real help! :D Thank you so much!
I always thought that I included the Dr. Moku Apps for learning Hiragana and Katakana in the article. Just noticed that I haven’t actually done that :)
I am so glad I found this site. I have been studying Japanese. Kana pretty well memorized, and some Kanji so far. I really enjoyed your comments and especially the suggestions. I am going to try and find some of them. Thank you so much for sharing!
Thanks Rosalind. Really great you like my tips and suggestions :) If you have any more questions just ask :)
Jakob,
I am very grateful for your Japanese language studying recommendations. I passed JLPT N4 and studying Minna No Nihongo & Genki, but still found myself being intimidated by manga and even children’s book (I tried, but struggled to read and understand even one page).
This post gave me inspiration to try よつばと！ and チーズスイートホーム (the cat is so cute!).
Thank you so much for this blog! It is very interesting to read!
Don’t be afraid of the manga! I’ll be ordering some to translate myself to help me with my Japanese. It’s something I think might help me in both remembering the hiragana and learning some more grammar! Just think of it as a positive way to learn! Stick to one page at a time and just slowly go through it. I haven’t taken any of the JLPT yet so we’ll see how things go! I wish you luck in your studies!
I’m just back from a trip to the used bookshop with 10 fairly random volume 1’s. Hopefully
one of them will fit the bill. Yotsuba is a great choice. The local Book Off has used copies for about 350 yen.
How is miss BookOff… I’m sure you picked up some great titles :) What did you buy exactly? If you got Yotsuba you will be covered :)
In less than 6 months I have accumulated cartons literally – too many to name them all!
There are just too many great ones :)
This list you made is really nice, thanks.
If you don´t mind me asking:
Did the manga you bought already come with the clear protection-covers, or did you get them separately?
Thanks a lot. Hope you found the post about the transparent wrapping sheets for the manga: https://japanesetease.net/a-good-way-to-protect-your-manga-book-kun/
Yes I did (and made the bad beginner misstake of not searching properly before asking^^).
As you know the selection here in Germany isn´t that great and at least you can be sure those wrapping sheets will fit the manga you import.
Jakob,
I am very grateful for your Japanese language studying recommendations. I passed JLPT N4 and studying Minna No Nihongo & Genki, but still found myself being intimidated by manga and even children’s book (I tried, but struggled to read and understand even one page).
This post gave me inspiration to try よつばと！ and チーズスイートホーム (the cat is so cute!).
Thank you so much for this blog! It is very interesting to read!
Thank you for the recommendations. Always is good to find that kind of material list.
I know about よつばと, I some time ago bought in my language, but it’s bored. May be I’ll try シロクマコヒ for read in Japanese.
I need to say (please, please forgive me) that I think what you say about the color of new Dragon Ball… well, I’m in shock reading what you said. I think that color it’s a bit horrible. If that’s glorious, how to call the color of Guarnido’s “Blacksad”, Homs’s “The Secrets: L’Angélus” Frezzato’s “Keepers of Maser” or other european comics?
But not offense, please, I’m saying only my opinion. :)
And speaking of non-Japanese comics, I can ask you something? may be you can help me: How is said in Japanese “european comics”? There is some secret special way to say that? There are many novels and other books translated into Japanese, but I don’t find anywhere european comics translated, except the Peyo’s “The Smurfs” children serie. Do they not translate anything graphic?
Thanks
Yeah, you’re definitely right the the small color parts in Dragon Ball are not exactly what one would call gorgeous in comparison to some hand colored European comics. I used it more rhetorically to say “hey, it’s awesome that there are even some color pages in there”.
Unfortunately I have no idea how Japanese refer to Western comics. Never seen any on my trip to Japan (except the Peanuts) but this would be something I#d be interested as well. Maybe it’s justコミック which they even borrowed for their 漫画.
I you found Yotsuba boring I would suggest not picking up シロクマカフェ next and rather something like ヒカルの碁. Great title with fantastic art and a great story. Just have a look here: https://japanesetease.net/easy-read-manga-vol-04-mixed-bag/
I haven’t found a term that covers all western comics, but there is a term for European comics, namely ユーロ・コミックス, as well as one for American comics, アメコミ.
Awesome. Thanks for sharing Mike.
Thanks for the recommendations! I’ve already heard of Shirokuma Cafe and Yotsuba so when I saw them, I was so excited:) Of course I have also heard of DB but unfortunately I did not order them this time around. By the way, thanks for recommending a cdjapan as well! It was excellent. I also ordered Dangerous Ji San which was recommended to me by a youtuber. He said its suppose to be quite humorous with a ton of potty jokes and furigana! So glad I found your blog. It has been very helpful!
Really glad you liked the manga I picked and enjoyed ordering through cdjapan. I’ll watch out for Dangerous Ji San. Never heard of it before (shame on me) but the premise sounds really interesting. Thanks for your support and let me know how you enjoy your new manga.
Thank you!! I’ve always wanted to buy beginners manga. The Yobatsuto looks funny, I think doraemon is for beginners too. I bought somes mangas but don’t know if they are for beginners. Thanks for your input. Will take in considerations when I get more mangas to practice
Thanks for your comment. Just do yourself a favor and get the first couple of Yotsuba books :) They are really fun and it’s always a good idea to get into reading “real” Japanese as soon as possible even if it’s a little frustrating in the beginning. I found Doraemon a little more difficult overall but included it in my second part of eas beginner manga:
https://japanesetease.net/easy-to-read-manga-for-japanese-beginners-vol-02/
I have been studying Japanese for a little over a year and a half and I just started reading Doraemon. I also found it very difficult because there were many phrases that I haven’t come across and were difficult finding translations. I found myself using Google Translate far too often.
Thank you for this post, I will definitely try しろくま and よつば. At this stage, I have found it difficult finding manga that is just right for beginners like me who do not have as high a vocabulary or experience as to read Dragonball or Doraemon, or Death Note etc.
Oh yeah, Death Note is super difficult. The vocab in there is definitely not beginner friendly. Or Japanese learner friendly in general. Have you already tried Yotsuba or Shirokuma Café?
I bought Chi’s Sweet Homr and Yotsuba vol 1. I am almost finished
reading Chi’s and I am glad I decided to read it because it is a confidence booster hehe. I think its a perfect beginner book. I will buy Shirokuma once I am finished with these two. Btw, thanks for the reply!
Og course. Cody. Thanks a lot for sharing your experiences. Shirokuma Cafe will definitely be a great choice. Can’t wait to hear how you liked it. It’s probably a god idea to start with Chi as the very first manga even if it got some “baby chi dialect” in it. Apart from that there is little text and you get the great feeing that you can finally put your learned Japanese to proper use.
Don’t be discouraged when reading Yotsuba. I found the first volume a little more difficult than the following ones. Let me know how things go :)
I will definitely let you know Yotsuba is :) BTW, CD Japan is a great site that has lots of variety. It is sometimes difficult to find manga in Japanese on Amazon.com haha
I finished Yotsuba and thought it was a cute story about everyday life for the girl and her dad, and her neighbors. There were sections that were fairly difficult, but much of the material was about the same difficulty as Chi’s Sweet Home.
I tried reading Shirokuma Cafe, but I didn’t like the skit format to well because I couldn’t identify with the characters that much. I will try reading it again when I have gained more skill.
For now, I am going to stick with Yotsuba and Chi’s Sweet Home :) Thanks for all of your input
I will definately get the Chi manga! thank you for this post!
Thanks for reading :) Chi is awesome and great first manga to pick up in Japanese.
Hiya! I just ordered everything (except dragonball) from Kinokuniya this week, so hopefully they should be here soon! I’m with you about the jump comics… I started with naruto because I absolutely LOVELOVELOVE the story! however, I needed a microscope to read the furigana and it was extremely frustrating. ._.! Thank you so much for these suggestions! I’m excited to start reading!! =^_^=
Thanks for your kind words :) Never really tried to get into Naruto because I found the drawings a little dull. But I just skipped through the first volume in a manga store. And yeah, the kanzenban size is the perfect manga size for me as well. Makes reading Japanese so much more comfortable.
Have fun with your new books (which probably arrived by the time of my very late reply, sorry). Just a curious question, you ever read Dragon Ball or why didn’t you pick it up?
Hmm, I thought about buying the Dragon Ball volume with the site you suggested. Is there anything I need to know if I want it to ship to Germany? Import fees, extra shipping cost, etc.? I have never imported anything so I am not sure what I need to consider. Can you tell me something about it?
There are no extra charges. The shipping costs (at cdjapan) are determined at checkout and that the sum you have to pay for the whole shipment. Don’t worry about getting hit by customs. Mwst is only 7% on books in Germany which means that you can order books with a total value of ruffly a hundred Euro without having to pay taxes. Never had any problems with books though, even with bigger packages. Once shipped with SAL you should have your books within 2 weeks :)
Awww, that brings back memories! :)
And Chi is so cute. ^^
Chi is awesome right :) and was actually the first Japanese manga I bought.
This is great, i’ll be buying all these in the new year with your links sir. Cheers.
Thanks a bunch for your support :)
Holy smokes, I have all of those but Dragonball. Yotsuba is by far my favorite, and I opted for Sailor Moon as well… because childhood.
My girl loves Sailor Moon as well but I heard it’s rather difficult in Japanese. Have you read it?
I’ve read bits of it. Some of the grammar is still a bit above my current level, but there is furigana.
Maybe I’ll just throw a volume of Sailor Moon in my next honto order. For old times sake.
Thanks for sharing!
Haha this reminds me of myself but you were more practical. During my exchange in Osaka I went crazy at Bookoff – 100 -300 yen per vol, madness I say! This resulted in me buying 60+ vols of one piece and a lot of shojo magazine XD
And I still can’t stop myself buying even more Japanese manga and books even if my backlog is huge :)
Can totally relate to your feelings when entering Book Off for the first time. It was just great. Heard there is a Book Off with Japanese stuff in Paris. Maybe I will make a short trip within the next weeks :)
What is wrong with you? You didn’t like one piece, naruto or bleach? Bleach is like the best anime and manga ever. Okay I like dragonball to but bleach is the best and my overall favorite. I realize this is my opinion, but I still have a right to express it… Just sayin
Great comment!
I still think all the information displayed on this blog was spectacular, it is great information, it’s just I have a serious bleach problem and get kind of…
Can you read Bleach in Japanese? I found it to be a really, really tough one and that’s a good reason not to include it in a post with easy manga recommendations for Japanese beginners.
No I don’t read it in japanease because there are tons of sights where you can read it in English and it’s still the same you just get it a little later than you would if it were in japanease, so it doesn’t really make a difference to me
Shirokuma Café seems like an interesting title, I want to look into that. You take some beautiful pictures, I appreciate that you also take pictures of the spines. The spine of a book is almost just as important as the front cover, I think. It seems you like manga in editions that has been colored after the initial print of the series, you have for instance Dragonball in a version that’s colored, and it seems Dr. Slump from your vol. 3 post is colored afterwards as well. Is it a coincidence, or do you prefer colored manga when you have a choice?
Thank you so much for your kind words Christian. It’s really appreciated. Shirokuma Café is indeed a great beginner friendly manga to watch out for. I’m quite sure that the first pages of Dragonball and Dr. Slump have been colored in their original version. Quite a few manga have some colored pages at the beginning. Like Billy Bat or Slam Dunk. The same is the case with the two manga by Toriyama. The first couple of pages are colored and then it’s plain b/w. I probably should have taken some more pictures to show that :)
To answer your question: I personally really like colored manga. There is a new edition of Dragonball available which is fully colored and looks gorgeous. I only own it digitally but I bet the printed version is just as beautiful.
What do you prefer?
Thanks for this!
Thanks for reading! The second part is already nearly done :)
Thanks for the tips. I’ve been to a lot of Japanese bookstores, but I’ve never seen the titles: Chi’s Sweet Home nor Shirokuma Cafe. I will check out your suggested titles actually! Did you get all these books at Book Off?
Recently I’ve been blogging about learning Japanese and wrote an entry as well: http://lostteacherinjapan.weebly.com/1/post/2013/05/choosing-japanese-books-and-manga-based-on-your-reading-level.html
I think I’ll also write some suggestions for good beginner titles as well. I also sell books and you can request specific Japanese titles, if you’re ever interested, drop by my site and look at my stores. Thanks!
Thanks for your commet タントラン. I actually bought Chi’s sweet Home and Shirokuma Café at Mandarake but I’ve seen them at some Book Offs as well. Just ask for the titles, they are somewhat a bit hard to find in the book stores. At least that was the case when I was looking for them in Tokyo. Always hidden in a corner :)
Just checked your blog and your small store for Japanese manga. Nice, Bookmarkd’ of course :)