Light Novels with Furigana or Children Version

5 comments

1. If you are reading electronically (which I would recommend because it is a huge time saver for beginners) you don’t need furigana, just a pop up dictionary like Yomichan.

2. I don’t think light novels are a good place to start, try children’s literature. I also don’t think Furigana is really that important, it’s mostly useful for when the reading of Kanji is different from what it usually it is.

   [Natsu no Niwa](https://www.amazon.co.jp/%E5%A4%8F%E3%81%AE%E5%BA%AD%E2%80%95-Friends-%E6%96%B0%E6%BD%AE%E6%96%87%E5%BA%AB-%E6%B9%AF%E6%9C%AC-%E9%A6%99%E6%A8%B9%E5%AE%9F/dp/4101315116) is my recommendation. Something more adult that still uses simple language is [Iebiyori](https://www.amazon.co.jp/%E5%AE%B6%E6%97%A5%E5%92%8C-%E9%9B%86%E8%8B%B1%E7%A4%BE%E6%96%87%E5%BA%AB-%E5%A5%A5%E7%94%B0-%E8%8B%B1%E6%9C%97/dp/4087465527).

3. For paperbacks, Amazon.jp has a lot, and you’d be surprised that even Amazon.com (the USA version of the site) has some in Japanese, definitely enough for a beginner.

   I have a [post](https://old.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/comments/ya1m7m/want_to_break_into_reading_paperback_books_but/) where I talk about some good beginner paperbacks (with furigana!!!) and some other accessories you may want to buy if you go that way.

   But what the other person said about saving time by going digital is also true. It will save a lot of time. But you might want paperback, so up to you.

4. The kadokawa Tsubasa books with the green border on the cover all have furigana. They have all kinds of beginner approachable books like the girl who lept through time, 泣きたい私は猫をかぶる, as well as other well known but harder novels like Your Name

5. There are several Japanese publishers with 100% furigana on all kanji: https://dokushoclub.com/2022/05/15/books-with-furigana/

   You will find common children’s books, anime novelisations and contemporary fiction.