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Clay Boutwell

Yumi Boutwell

For upper beginners of Japanese and higher.

Learn Japanese vocabulary while listening to the stories of Momotaro and Usagi to Kame (Tortoise and the Hare).

Both stories are presented in four ways:

1) Story read slowly

2) Story read line-by-line followed by vocabulary in Japanese and English

3) Story read normal speed

4) Finally, the story read in English to cement your understanding

This audiobook was designed to be enjoyed without the need of any written material.

Momotaro: Momotaro is perhaps the most famous Japanese folktale. An old couple raise a baby found within a giant peach. This Momotaro grows up to lead a party of animals (monkey, dog, and pheasant) against the terrible oni monsters.

Usagi to Kame: This is the well-known Aesop's fable of the Tortoise and the Hare. You know the story. Now understand it in Japanese!

Here's to your Japanese!

Japanese Reader Collection

Learn Japanese with Stories Volume 2: Momotaro, the Peach Boy

READ real Japanese Today! By choosing short stories, the intimidation factor is greatly reduced. Not only that, but we divide the story up into tiny, easy-to-swallow segments with complete explanations to give you confidence as you read real Japanese page by page.

Perfect for upper beginner level students of Japanese.

BONUS! Get FREE Sound Files of the story read by a native Japanese voice actress, one read at normal speed and one read slowly. Listen while reading. The link to the MP3s is found on the last page.

EXTRA BONUS! Included with the MP3s, is a PDF of all the vocabulary organized by parts of speech. Feel free to print these out to study before reading.

EXTRA BONUS! Free Anki flashcard deck of all the vocabulary. If you haven't used Anki before, it is a free flashcard program with spaced repetition. This means, you'll study cards you don't know well more often than the cards you do know.

With Furigana! All our readers have furigana in both the paperback and eBook versions. Furigana is the small hiragana over the kanji--most devices support this feature.

Have you studied for a year or two but just don’t feel like you are progressing? This book is for you too. We suggest reading the Japanese only section first (includes furigana) and then go through the line-by-line running gloss section to cement understanding and learn vocabulary.

* Furigana over the kanji for the glossary section
* Three complete Japanese short stories. Each story is presented in three unique ways.
* Two stories are about Hikoichi and the third is about a girl and a mask.
* GLOSS: Read the story with definitions below each line to understand completely. Every sentence is broken down word-for-word and with English explanation of the grammar.
* JAPANESE ONLY: The full story in Japanese only (without the running gloss) is also provided so you can practice reading without interruption.
* ENGLISH SUMMARY: Finally, we have included a simple and mostly literal English translation for you to check your understanding (Don’t cheat! Work through the Japanese first!).
* Short stories make reading full Japanese texts possible.
* Download the FREE MP3s and Anki flashcard decks to listen while you study.

Hikoichi

You may know our first Japanese Reader Collection Volume has several Hikoichi stories. By far, those have been the most popular among students. Hikoichi is, after all, an interesting character. Smart, sassy, creative in his laziness…In short, his adventures are entertaining. Plus, not many non-Japanese are as familiar with Hikoichi as they are Momotaro or the Moon Princess. So, be one of the few to dig in, enjoy, and learn more about Hikoichi!

Finally, we invite the reader to contact us with questions or requests for future Japanese readers. You will find our personal email addresses in the book. To your Japanese!

What are you waiting for? Ninja up your Japanese. Click “Buy Now” now!

Kotoba Inc

Hikoichi Revisited: Learn Japanese with Stories

READ real Japanese Today! By choosing short stories, the intimidation factor is greatly reduced. Not only that, but we divide the story up into tiny, easy-to-swallow segments with complete explanations to give you confidence as you read real Japanese page by page.

Recommended for upper beginner to intermediate level students of Japanese.

Hikoichi is both a smart man and a smart aleck. It is unknown if he was based on a real person, but this kind of out-of-the-box-thinking character appears often in Japanese tales.

BONUS! Get FREE sound files of the stories read by a native Japanese voice actress, one read at normal speed and one read slowly. Listen while reading. The link to the MP3s is found on the last page.

NOW WITH QR CODES - While you can still download the sound files with the link on the last page, we are also including handy QR codes for both the slow and normal speed recordings of the stories. Simply scan the code with the camera of your phone and the audio will begin playing in seconds.

EXTRA BONUS! Included with the sound files, are PDFs of all the vocabulary and grammar points. Feel free to print these out to use while reading.

EXTRA BONUS! Lastly, we are also providing an Anki flashcard deck of the vocabulary for not extra charge.

Now with Furigana! All our readers now have furigana in both the paperback and Kindle versions. Furigana is the small hiragana over the kanji--most devices support this new feature. (The Japanese only section has no furigana so you can practice reading the story again in "real" furigana-less Japanese)

Have you studied for a year or two but just don’t feel like you are progressing? This book is for you too. We suggest reading the Japanese only section first (includes furigana) and then go through the line-by-line running gloss section to cement understanding and learn vocabulary.

* All Japanese have furigana (printed version and Kindle version on supported devices (most new devices))
* Two complete Japanese short stories. Each story is presented in three unique ways.
* GLOSS: Read the story with a running gloss—understand completely. Every sentence is broken down word-for-word and with English explanation of the grammar.
* JAPANESE ONLY: The full story in Japanese only (without the running gloss) is also provided so you can practice reading without interruption.
* ENGLISH SUMMARY: Finally, we have included a simple and mostly literal English translation for you to check your understanding (Don’t cheat! Work through the Japanese first!).
* Short stories make reading full Japanese texts possible.
* Download the FREE MP3s to listen while you study.
* Download FREE Anki flashcard decks to learn all the vocabulary found in the stories.

THE STORIES:
This book contains two Hikoichi stories:

Hikoichi, Sitting in the Middle of Eight - The lord tests Hikoichi with a difficult problem [Includes free sound files and Anki flashcard deck for vocabulary - Download link found on last page]

Hikoichi, Fishing for Kappa - What is Hikoichi up to now? Why, he's fishing for a Kappa [Includes free sound files and Anki flashcard deck for vocabulary]

Finally, we invite the reader to contact us with questions or requests for future Japanese readers. You will find our personal email addresses in the book. To your Japanese!

What are you waiting for? Ninja up your Japanese.

Hikoichi Strikes Back: Learn Japanese with Stories