Japanese

Summary

Japanese is natively spoken by about 125 million people, primarily in Japan, where it is the national language. It is integral to Japanese cultural identity, known for its literature, traditional arts such as tea ceremony and ikebana, and pop culture exports like anime and manga. Written in a combination of kanji (Chinese characters) and two syllabaries (hiragana and katakana), Japanese grammar features a subject-object-verb (SOV) word order, extensive use of honorifics to indicate respect, and a system of particles to mark grammatical relationships.

Stats

Language Family: Japonic
Writing System: Kanji, Hiragana, Katakana
Writing System Type: Syllabary, Logography
Writing Direction: L to R
Tones / Pitch Accent: 2
Morphology: Agglutinative
Cases: > 7
Grammatical Gender / Noun Class: 0
Number of Verb Tenses: 2
Word Order: SOV
Number of Vowels (Monophthongs): 5
Number of Consonants: 17

Areas Where Spoken

Japan (de facto official) (99.1%) (124 mil)

Resources

Apps

絵本ひろば　2000冊以上の絵本が読み放題‪！(on Apple and Google Play stores) - Good app for children's stories in basic japanese: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jp.co.alphapolis.ehon
Anki
Complete Jouyou Kanji Writing Deck ("Kanken Deck") Part 1: https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/759825185
Shin Kanzen Master Vocabulary JLPT N2: https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/778116520
Shin Kanzen Master Vocabulary JLPT N3: https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/980949395
Wanikani Ultimate 2 Deck: https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/1609000301
Busuu

Genki

Memrise

Tae Kim's Guide to Learning Japanese - Another wonderful guide for learning Japanese for the English speaker - wouldn't recommend if you don't like reading though. I personally do not think it's a lot of reading, cause each lesson is direct/right-to-the-point and extra insightful on things to watch out for (I.e. un-useful Textbook vocab, terms, or explanations or topics of common beginner learning mistakes)

Japanese Kanji Tree Pro - used to be free but is now around $6

JAccent - Japanese accent dictionary

HiNative - Put a question out there, get it answered QUICK.

HiloKal - This app is for language Live Chat Rooms that you can join
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.onigiri.japanese.tango

Browser Extension

Yomichan: Pop-up dictionary https://foosoft.net/projects/yomichan/: Mouse-over a character and get the word's definition instantly, generate Anki cards in a single click for those words with their definition.
https://github.com/birchill/10ten-ja-reader/

Books

PDF of a thousand kanji: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B07v3CCErNvjaXM1NHUza1dTUWs/view?resourcekey=0-9pVqKh0YvEonbPECun-vWw
日本語の聴解のためのPodcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/akanesensei
Anzucotty Japanese podcast: https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/anzucotty-japanese-anzucotty-wm0IzZ6XUYk/
Miku Real Japanese Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/jp/podcast/the-miku-real-japanese-podcast-japanese-conversation/id1560531490?l=en
Japanese podcast for beginners (Nihongo con Teppei): https://nihongoconteppei.com/
必ずできる! JLPT「読解」N2: https://www.amazon.co.jp/必ずできる-JLPT「読解」N2-安藤-栄里子/dp/4757433956
キクタン日本語日本語能力試験 N2: https://www.amazon.co.jp/必ずできる-JLPT「読解」N2-安藤-栄里子/dp/4757433956
みんなの日本語初級 1 & 2: https://www.3anet.co.jp/np/books/2300/
中級から学ぶ日本語: https://www.amazon.co.jp/テーマ別-中級から学ぶ日本語-〈三訂版〉-松田-浩志/dp/4327384658
Complete Japanese Grammar from Tuttle Publishing: https://www.tuttlepublishing.com/language-books/japanese/self-study-books/essential-japanese-grammar
Kokugoryokuup: https://kokugoryokuup.com/ : This website has frequent posts talking about the difference between two similar words, or explaining yojijukugo (4 character words). I have this website set as my home page on my browser so I see it every time I open the browser! It's a great way to get a little reading in every day, plus the articles are always in the same format so once you learn the words that they use, you can read just about all of them!
Kanji Look and Learn: https://www.amazon.com/Kanji-Look-Learn-Eri-Banno/dp/4789013499
Akane's Japanese class: Blog: http://akanesenseijp.com/
Animelon: Anime with Japanese subtitles: https://animelon.com/
Learning Japanese Kanji Practice Book Volume 1: https://www.amazon.ca/Learning-Japanese-Kanji-Practice-Book/dp/0804844933/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?crid=11ODC4U4RXX7Y&keywords=japanese+kanji&qid=1661281269&sprefix=japanese+kanji%2Caps%2C179&sr=8-3 : Learn Kanji and practice writing. Nicely formatted with several volumes in rising difficulty

Music

Playlist by misomisoo: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/447xZWTE4hPB2Sn02jU85v?si=986df169686941b9&nd=1
Indigo La End, city pop like Miki Matsubara etc, takayan, Sukisha, Toko Miura, Asako Toki, mamerico, Tendre, Yeye, Yoasobi, Lucky Kilimanjaro

Websites

Nihongo Quest https://store.steampowered.com/app/1556070/Nihongo_Quest/: It's a game for N5 Japanese learners
Genki Study Resources: https://sethclydesdale.github.io/genki-study-resources/ : Interactive exercises from Genki
Imabi: Ultimate advanced grammar guide: https://www.imabi.net/tableofcontents.htm : You will find every grammar rule and example you need in there, should be used as an external reference, not a main learning resource
Japanese Word Banks: https://www.learn-japanese-adventure.com/japanese-words.html : Word banks on specific subjects like food, office or sports
Jisho: Dictionary: https://jisho.org/
KanjiTomo: https://www.kanjitomo.net/ : Identify Japanese characters and words from images or text
Learn Natively: https://learnnatively.com/browse/ : Browse manga by difficulty level
Mind Twisted: Kanji study : https://mindtwisted.com/ - @蓮 ren ✏: I use a Premium Paid account (plus an Outlier upgrade) and it's already for lifetime and not a subscription. This is better (and cheaper) than Wanikani in my opinion
NHK News Web Easy: News articles in easy Japanese: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/easy/
Renshuu: Learning Kanji: https://www.wanikani.com/
Satori Reader: Reading, study system, flash cards: https://www.satorireader.com/
Tofugu: Learn hiragana: https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/learn-hiragana/
Wanikani: https://www.renshuu.org/
VIKI: https://www.viki.com/categories/country/japan/genre/all?access=free : Watch Japanese shows and movies for free legally with Japanese or English subtitles
https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/learn-hiragana/
https://learnnatively.com/
https://imabi.org/table-of-contents-目次/ Imabi gives instructions to many grammatical concepts and general Japanese introduction from absolute beginner to advanced speakers.
If you're looking for offline and ads free dictionary I really recommend http://takoboto.jp/
Kanji practice https://www.tanoshiijapanese.com/home/
Printable practice sheets https://www.mlcjapanese.co.jp/