Learn to read Japanese
A short, active path into reading Japanese: decode seven real words from eleven kana, learn why the verb comes last and how nine particles carry the grammar, meet the plain past stories are told in, and read a short fable before opening your first book.
Word lookup: numbers, counters, family, animals, colours, scenery
- Open this when you want a word. Neither closing story needs any of these lists memorised.
- Japanese counts twice: a borrowed set for reading on a page, a native set for counting objects aloud.
- You cannot say “three dogs” — a counter word is glued to the number, chosen by what is counted.
- The counter sound changes are compulsory: read 一ぴきippiki and 二人futari as fixed lumps.
- Colours split in two: five that end in いi, and three that need のno.
The reading set
| Number | Kanji | Sound |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 一 | ichi |
| 2 | 二 | ni |
| 3 | 三 | san |
| 4 | 四 | shi, or yon |
| 5 | 五 | go |
| 6 | 六 | roku |
| 7 | 七 | shichi, or nana |
| 8 | 八 | hachi |
| 9 | 九 | kyū, or ku |
| 10 | 十 | jū |
Four, seven and nine have two readings each, and which one you use depends on the word. Read the reading the app prints and move on.
The counting-out-loud set
| Number | Japanese | Sound |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ひとつ | hitotsu |
| 2 | ふたつ | futatsu |
| 3 | みっつ | mittsu |
| 4 | よっつ | yottsu |
| 5 | いつつ | itsutsu |
| 6 | むっつ | muttsu |
| 7 | ななつ | nanatsu |
| 8 | やっつ | yattsu |
| 9 | ここのつ | kokonotsu |
| 10 | とお | tō |
Four of them contain the small っ — the held beat from the kana reference, in the wild. This set stops at ten and hands over to the other one.
Number + counter
People
| English | Japanese | Sound |
|---|---|---|
| mother | おかあさん | okāsan |
| father | おとうさん | otōsan |
| child | こども | kodomo |
| older brother | おにいさん | oniisan |
| older sister | おねえさん | onēsan |
| friend | ともだち | tomodachi |
| man | おとこの人 | otoko no hito |
| woman | おんなの人 | onna no hito |
Japanese has no plain word for “brother” or “sister” — it has older and younger, and you have to pick one. And there is no single word for a grown man or woman either: you say “male person”, which is that same のno joining two nouns.
Animals
| English | Japanese | Sound |
|---|---|---|
| dog | 犬 | inu |
| cat | 猫 | neko |
| bird | とり | tori |
| fish | さかな | sakana |
| horse | うま | uma |
| mouse | ねずみ | nezumi |
| fox | きつね | kitsune |
| bear | くま | kuma |
| rabbit | うさぎ | usagi |
| pig | ぶた | buta |
| owl | ふくろう | fukurō |
| wolf | おおかみ | ōkami |
These twelve are the cast of almost every fable you are about to open. Animals move themselves, so they exist with いるiru and count with ひきhiki.
Eight colours, two kinds
| English | Japanese | Sound | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| red | あかい | akai | ends in いi |
| blue | あおい | aoi | ends in いi |
| yellow | きいろい | kiiroi | ends in いi |
| black | くろい | kuroi | ends in いi |
| white | しろい | shiroi | ends in いi |
| green | みどりの | midori no | a noun, needs のno |
| brown | ちゃいろの | chairo no | a noun, needs のno |
| grey | はいいろの | haiiro no | a noun, needs のno |
The word for colour itself is いろiro, hiding inside three of these: brown is “tea colour”, grey is “ash colour”, yellow is “yellow colour”. The five ending in いi behave like describing words; the three nouns need のno to hook onto anything.
The scenery of a fable
| English | Japanese | Sound |
|---|---|---|
| moon | 月 | tsuki |
| night | よる | yoru |
| sky | そら | sora |
| rain | あめ | ame |
| wind | かぜ | kaze |
| snow | ゆき | yuki |
| road | みち | michi |
| forest | もり | mori |
| house | いえ | ie |