B1 Japanese Stories
Practice intermediate Japanese with stories that stretch vocabulary, sentence structure, and inference skills.
西郷隆盛の最後の朝食
A poignant story about Saigo Takamori's final morning before his last battle at Shiroyama.
甲子園の最後の一球
A young baseball player named Kenji faces the immense pressure of the final pitch at Koshien, finally understanding the weight of the experience his brother went through years ago.
八百年生きた尼が最後に選んだ洞窟
A story about an immortal woman who lived for eight hundred years and finally finds peace in the beauty of a simple flower.
屋久島の千年杉を守る男
A story about a dedicated guide in Yakushima who protects the island's ancient cedar trees and passes his passion on to the next generation.
京町家の最後の後継ぎ
A young woman named Haruka returns to her grandmother's traditional Kyoto house, only to discover the burden of its past and a difficult decision about its future.
葛飾北斎が諦めなかった波
A story about the legendary artist Hokusai and his relentless pursuit of perfection while creating his iconic wave masterpiece.
阿波踊りを七十年踊り続けた女師匠
A reporter travels to Tokushima to interview an 82-year-old master who has dedicated over seventy years of her life to the traditional Awa Odori dance.
閉店前夜に残された祖父の隠し味
A daughter finds her grandfather's secret recipe in a notebook just before her father closes their family ramen shop permanently.
古い旅館から消えた宿帳
A story about a person who visits an old inn to uncover a hidden secret about their grandmother's past.
小豆島の醤油蔵に残った最後の木桶
A young woman named Yuki re-evaluates the value of her grandmother's traditional soy sauce barrels after a stranger makes an offer to buy one.
柔道部のない島の中学生が挑んだ県大会
A middle school boy living on a small island without a judo club works hard with an elderly fisherman to prepare for a prefectural judo tournament.
ホタルが消えた川を一人で取り戻した男
A determined man works for seven years to restore his village's polluted river and bring back the fireflies from his childhood memories.
三十年間、同じ席に座り続けた男
An elderly man who has sat in the same seat at a coffee shop for thirty years encounters a young woman and learns a new perspective on his favorite spot.
座敷わらしが去る前夜に鳴った鈴の音
A young woman returns to her late grandmother's inn and encounters the mysterious, guiding presence of a legendary spirit.
関東大震災の翌朝に炊き出しを始めた板前
A Japanese chef decides to use his remaining supplies to provide food for earthquake victims the morning after the Great Kanto Earthquake.
廃線の終点に残された往復切符
A journalist discovers a mysterious round-trip ticket at an abandoned train station, leading her to uncover a secret about her own family's past.
長崎くんちの龍踊りを受け継いだ外国人
A story about a Canadian man who finds inspiration and community through the traditional Nagasaki Dragon Dance festival.