What colour are the body parts?

This Level 2 reader introduces fun Japanese mascots, characters, and cultural icons through simple descriptive sentences and authentic photographs.

Each page follows the repeated sentence pattern 「これは ～です。」, introducing the colours of different body parts with sentences such as 「目は 赤です。」 and 「耳は ピンクです。」 The repeated language helps learners build reading confidence while naturally expanding their vocabulary.

As they continue reading, learners meet a variety of familiar Japanese characters and mascots, including Hello Kitty, Anpanman, maneki-neko, oni, snowmen, and even a cheerful hot spring egg mascot. Authentic photographs provide strong visual clues while introducing learners to a fun and uniquely Japanese aspect of everyday culture.

This reader also introduces kanji for body parts and colours with hiragana support (furigana). Learners are also introduced to common katakana colour words used naturally throughout the text.

This reader helps learners build reading confidence through repetition, visual support, authentic Japanese language, and the discovery of Japanese mascots and character culture.

Language Features

Students will practise:

• Reading simple descriptive sentences
• Reading body parts and colours
• Reading body part and colour kanji with hiragana support (furigana)
• Recognising common katakana words
• Using picture clues to predict meaning
• Developing reading confidence through repeated sentence patterns
• Discovering Japanese characters and popular culture

Details: 

Japanese Reader Level: 2
Recommended for: Early Beginners
Language Focus: Simple descriptive sentence patterns
Vocabulary Theme: Body parts, colours, body part and colour kanji, and common katakana vocabulary
Cultural Theme: Japanese mascots and character culture

Character Count: 304 (main text) + 48 (captions)
Pages: 20
Product Type: A5 saddle-stitched booklet
ISBN: 978-1-925808-11-7

Perfect For

• Learners progressing from words to simple Japanese sentences
• Primary school Japanese programs
• Beginning secondary school students
• Adult beginners
• Home learning
• Japanese language classrooms
• Learning body parts and colours through authentic Japanese culture

📚 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

Also available for schools and teachers:

• 🖥️ Class Sets with Online Flipbooks

💜 A Note from Mariko Sensei

Growing up in Japan, I loved characters like Hello Kitty, and I wasn’t the only one. Japanese children have always loved cute characters, and they are an important part of childhood in Japan.

You can find characters almost everywhere—in toy shops, schools, parks, shops, and even on local mascots that represent towns and communities. They bring smiles, spark children’s imagination, and make everyday life a little more fun.

I created this reader to introduce learners to both the Japanese language and this playful part of Japanese culture. As learners read about body parts and colours, they also discover some of Japan’s best-loved characters and unique mascots.

I hope this book helps you enjoy reading Japanese while discovering the fun and creativity of Japanese character culture.

Happy reading!

— Mariko Sensei

📖 Your Next Japanese Reader

Now that you’ve practised reading body parts and colours through repeated sentence patterns, continue your Japanese reading journey with these readers:

• どうぶつ — Continue reading simple descriptive sentences while learning ～です and ～じゃないです through a variety of animals.
• むし — Learn to describe insects using simple sentences while expanding your vocabulary for numbers, body parts, and expressions such as 「～があります。」
• ねこの ちび — Enjoy a heartwarming story about Chibi while reading simple sentences and learning expressions such as 「～が すきです。」

These Japanese readers are intended for individual use and extensive reading (tadoku).

© Mariko Earle. All rights reserved.