🛍️ Discover Shopping in Japan with This Level 3 Japanese Reader

How Much Is It? is a Level 3 Japanese Reader that takes learners on a shopping journey through Japan using practical Japanese dialogues, repeated sentence patterns, and authentic photographs.

The story follows Rick as he travels to Japan and goes shopping. He visits a variety of everyday shops, including Daiso, a supermarket, a cake shop, a wagashi shop, a takoyaki shop, a Sanrio shop, and a character shop.

At each stop, learners encounter familiar shopping patterns that become increasingly easy to recognize.

For example:

「たこやきは いくらですか。」
How much is the takoyaki?

「580円です。」
It’s 580 yen.

「5こ ください。」
Five, please.

「5こで 2900円です。」
It is 2,900 yen for five.

These sentences appear in the book’s takoyaki-shop sequence.

As the reader progresses, the language extends beyond the repeated price-and-quantity pattern. Learners also encounter ありますか when asking whether an item is available and ぜんぶで when several purchases are added together.

This predictable structure helps beginner learners read longer Japanese exchanges with confidence while connecting the language to a practical situation they may experience when visiting Japan.

🎯Language Features in This Level 3 Japanese Reader

Students will practise:

• ～は いくらですか。 — asking the price of an item
• ～円です。 — stating prices in yen
• ～こ ください。 — ordering quantities
• ～こで ～円です。 — giving a total for a quantity
• ～は ありますか。 — asking whether an item is available
• はい、あります。 — responding that an item is available
• ぜんぶで ～円です。 — giving the total price
• ～に 行きます。 — saying where someone is going
• Reading numbers, quantities, and Japanese prices
• Reading Hiragana, Katakana, and selected Kanji with furigana
• Understanding familiar shopping vocabulary through repetition and visual context

📖 Level 3 Japanese Reader Details

Reading Level: Level 3
Recommended for: Beginner Japanese learners
Character Count: 733
Pages: 17
Text Type: Factual text (shopping dialogue)
Language Focus: Prices, quantities, counters, shopping questions, and repeated dialogues
Vocabulary Theme: Shopping, food, money, everyday items, and character goods
Cultural Theme: Everyday shopping in Japan
Script: Hiragana, Katakana, and selected Kanji with furigana
Product Type: A5 saddle-stitched booklet
ISBN: 978-1-925808-12-4

 Perfect For

• Beginner Japanese learners
• Learners ready to move beyond very short beginner texts
• Primary and elementary Japanese programs
• Beginning secondary Japanese students
• Shopping and money units
• Practising Japanese numbers, prices, and counters
• Practical Japanese reading practice
• Guided reading
• Independent reading
• Extensive Reading (Tadoku)
• Adult beginners

 Teaching & Learning Resources

Every reader includes free access to our Resource Library.

Included with every reader:

•  Audio recordings narrated by Mariko Sensei
•  English translation
•  Quizlet vocabulary activities

🏫 Teaching a Class?

Bring the same shopping journey to your whole class with “How Much Is It?“ Japanese Reader Class Set & Online Flipbook.

Choose 10, 15, 20, or 25 printed readers and receive password-protected access to the matching online flipbook for classroom display.

👉 Explore How Much Is It? (いくらですか？) Class Set & Online Flipbook

 A Note from Mariko Sensei

When I was in primary school, my parents gave me a small allowance each month. One of my favorite things to do was decide how to spend it.

I still remember the excitement of walking to the local shops near my parents’ home in Utsunomiya, carefully choosing what to buy and checking whether I had enough money. Every purchase felt like a little adventure.

Many of the photographs in this reader were taken in those same neighborhood shops that my family and I have visited for many years. They are the kinds of everyday places where Japanese people shop, giving learners a genuine glimpse into daily life in Japan.

I created this reader so learners can experience what shopping in Japan really feels like. Through repeated shopping dialogues, real Japanese money, and authentic products and prices, learners can build reading confidence while exploring Japanese language and culture.

I hope this reader makes you feel as though you are shopping in Japan yourself.

Happy reading!

— Mariko Sensei

📖 Your Next Japanese Reader

Continue your Japanese reading journey with these carefully graded readers:

🇯🇵 My First Trip to Japan (はじめてのにほん) — Continue at Level 3 while exploring a first journey through Japan through authentic photographs and everyday Japanese.

🐢 Slow and Fast (ゆっくりくんとはやいくん) — Continue building reading fluency through contrasting actions and repeated Japanese sentence patterns.

🎎 Tsurushibina (つるしびな) — Step up to a Level 4 reader with accessible です-style Japanese while discovering a beautiful Japanese cultural tradition.

📚 Explore More Japanese Reader Packs

🌱 Beginner Hiragana Readers Starter Pack — Build early reading confidence with carefully graded beginner Japanese readers.

🏫 Primary & Elementary School Japanese Readers Pack — Explore engaging Japanese readers designed for primary and elementary learners.

📚 All Japanese Readers Pack — Explore the complete collection of graded Japanese readers.

📌 Important Information

This Japanese Reader is designed for individual use and extensive reading (Tadoku).

Copyright © Mariko Earle. All rights reserved.

Please do not copy, reproduce, or share the content of this book without permission from the copyright holder.