Japanese Graded Readers

Authentic Japanese Reading Practice Through Engaging Stories

Our Japanese graded readers help students build confidence through authentic photographs and natural Japanese. In addition, audio recordings, English translations, Quizlet activities, and classroom resources support different learning styles. Designed for schools, independent learners, and JLPT preparation.

Elementary
School

Japanese readers for primary/ elementary school students, designed to develop reading confidence and language skills through engaging stories and cultural content.

High School

Japanese readers for secondary students, supporting vocabulary growth, grammar development, and reading fluency through meaningful content.

JLPT Learners

Japanese graded readers for JLPT learners, providing structured reading practice, vocabulary development, and cultural understanding.

Why Japanese Graded Readers?

However, Japanese graded readers make reading easier, especially for beginners and developing learners. Japanese graded readers make reading more accessible by introducing vocabulary, grammar, and sentence patterns in a carefully structured way. Instead of feeling overwhelmed by difficult texts, learners can build confidence through enjoyable stories that match their reading level.

In addition, our Japanese graded readers combine authentic photographs, natural Japanese, audio recordings, English translations, Quizlet vocabulary activities, and classroom resources to create an engaging learning experience. Each reader gradually develops reading fluency while introducing Japanese culture through meaningful, real-life topics.

Whether you are a classroom teacher, an independent learner, or preparing for the JLPT, our readers provide step-by-step reading practice that helps students enjoy reading in Japanese with confidence.

Why Choose Our Japanese Graded Readers

Every Japanese graded reader includes:

In addition, teachers can display the readers on an interactive whiteboard, model pronunciation, and support shared reading.

Students can listen to the audio and practise vocabulary with Quizlet. As a result, they build reading confidence and fluency while exploring the Japanese language and culture.

Ideal for whole-class teaching, small groups, independent reading, homework, and classroom libraries.

ページを開きたくなる本

Books that make you want to start reading

写真や絵による読解サポート

Reading comprehension support with photos and illustrations

各ページには、レベルに応じた文章量

Readable text tailored to every learning stage

初心者には読みやすい　　　教科書体フォント

Beginner-friendly textbook fonts

助詞の色分け

Colour-coded particles in Japanese

ふりがな付きのレベル別読解サポート

Level-based Japanese reading support with furigana

初心者向けの分かち書きサポート

Beginner-friendly word spacing support

Meet the author

With more than 40 years of experience teaching Japanese to learners of all ages, Mariko Earle recognised that books published in Japan were often too difficult for language learners.

Today, Mariko’s readers are used by schools, teachers, and independent learners in Australia and around the world. Each reader combines authentic photographs, carefully graded language, and cultural content to help students build confidence and enjoy reading in Japanese.

In addition, every reader includes audio recordings, English translations, Quizlet vocabulary activities, and optional Class Sets with Online Flipbooks, making them suitable for both classroom teaching and independent study.

Her goal is to help learners become confident, independent readers while discovering the richness of Japanese language and culture through engaging stories and meaningful real-life topics.

What Teachers, Parents & Learners Say

Mariko Sensei’s books offer learners outside Japan a wonderful opportunity to experience Japanese culture and everyday life while improving their language skills.

One of the things I appreciate most is the combination of natural, level-appropriate Japanese, beautiful illustrations, and real-life photos. The visual support makes it much easier to understand new vocabulary and follow the stories without feeling overwhelmed.

These books are an excellent resource for developing reading comprehension, expanding vocabulary, and encouraging students to read independently. As both a former Japanese language learner and a Japanese language teacher, I highly recommend this reading series for N5 and N4 learners.

Lucila Gibo

Former Japanese Language Learner and Japanese Teacher

Mariko sensei’s books are helpful in teaching my daughter not only Japanese language but also unique culture we have.

You can see that Mariko sensei is very committed to making these books with her passion. I believe many of the stories are related to her precious memories, and they are heartwarming. I recommend these books to everyone, students, teachers, mums and dads.

Satomi Aoto

Japanese mother

As a teacher of Japanese, I know Mariko Sensei’s Japanbooks provide an invaluable resource for both teachers and students.

It has been an absolute pleasure to see how far Mariko has come with writing her books and personally I am moved to tears at times when reading her books because you can feel the thought, love and passion that she puts into all that she does.

Dr. Amanda Autry

Japanese Lecturer, The University of the Sunshine Coast

The beautiful photography in Mariko Sensei’s books engages the readers immediately.

The size of the book allows for the readers to engage with a Japanese text without feeling daunted by having to read too much text. The books are a great introduction to Japanese reading for beginners.

Debra Shimada

Japanese teacher