Whether you prefer checking up on news about current events, sports, or culture, learning Japanese through Japanese news is an effective way to build your language skills while also getting exposure to real, modern-day Japan.
If you want to figure out how to learn Japanese naturally, start by picking up resources like these, designed with both native speakers and language learners in mind. Reading, watching, and listening to Japanese news will help you develop your skills concurrently while also building your vocabulary and cultural knowledge.
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Japanese news sources for reading practice
Two of the major Japanese newspapers—Asahi Shimbun (朝日新聞) and Mainichi Shimbun (毎日新聞)—each have content designed for language learners or younger audiences that make for great intermediate reading practice. The key thing to look for in news sources for Japanese reading practice is furigana (振り仮名), which are hiragana characters written above kanji to help with comprehension.
Start with these websites covering easy Japanese news, then move toward the regular published articles when you’re ready to read at a native level.
Yasashii Asahi Shimbun (やさしい朝日新聞)
The simplified version of Asahi Shimbun, the intermediate-level Yasashii Asahi Shimbun (Easy Asahi Newspaper) offers several short, simplified versions of its regular articles every day. The website is designed with its users in mind, offering toggle switches for furigana and spaces between words (which Japanese usually doesn’t have), tags for organization (like sports and economics), as well as settings for font and color schemes.
The articles themselves are short, taking up only a handful of paragraphs. They also include audio that reads the article out loud at a slower-than-usual pace. For particularly unusual vocabulary, it even includes a quick definition in parentheses.
Mainichi Gakusei Shimbun (毎日学生新聞)
Also known as “The Mainichi” in English, Mainichi Shimbun writes several daily articles suitable for intermediate learners. Their Mainichi Gakusei Shimbun (Everyday Student Newspaper) comes in two levels. One of them is targeted for Japanese elementary schoolers (Mainichi Shōgakusei Shimbun or “Everyday Elementary Student Newspaper”), while the other is written for teenagers (15-sai Nyūsu or “News for 15 Year Olds”).
Both include furigana for kanji in the article, but the articles written for elementary-aged students include furigana on all kanji while those written for teens include furigana only on the more advanced kanji. The 15-sai Nyūsu articles are also about twice as long as those for Mainichi Shōgakusei Shimbun.
Having both options makes Mainichi Shimbun a good option for Japanese language learners. You can start with the elementary-targeted articles as an intermediate learner, move on to the slightly harder articles as you improve, and then read the full articles written for native-speaking adults once you reach the upper-intermediate or advanced level.
Slow-talking Japanese news sources
Even if you’re reading at an intermediate level, you may still need to listen to audio at a slower pace. Try listening to the news instead of just reading it to get some Japanese listening practice in until you’re comfortable listening to audio at native speed.
NHK Yasashii Kotoba Nyūsu (NHKやさしいことばニュース)
The main Japanese public broadcaster, NHK (also known by its full name, Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai or 日本放送協会), has its own easier news site: NHK Yasashii Kotoba Nyūsu or News Web Easy. In addition to its written articles, this website is also great practice for listening.
The provided audio reads the text out loud at a clear, medium pace. The audio player also has an option for you to speed it up. By changing the speed from the default x1.0 to x1.25, you can jump from a slow pace to something close to native level.
Most articles also include a short video from the original broadcast, meaning you can get multiple levels of practice out of one page:
- Listen to a short passage at a slow pace.
- Speed up the audio to listen at native speed.
- Watch and listen to the video to get exposure to native-level language and talking speed.
Slow Communication (スローコミュニケーション)
As the name suggests, Slow Communication provides slow-talking audio to accompany articles with easy-to-understand language. The goal of the website is to help anyone understand the news, regardless of age, language level, or other obstacles.
Articles are neatly divided into four categories to help you find what you’re looking for: domestic (Japanese) news, international news, disability and obstacles, and informational articles (such as how to use a smartphone or how elections work).
This makes Slow Communication a great choice for listening to audio on the day’s news as well as a place to learn vocabulary for specific topics that often come up in the news.
Japanese news outlets for upper-intermediate learners
To get the same news experience as native Japanese speakers, turn to news sources designed with them in mind. Once you feel comfortable with simpler articles and slow-talking videos and podcasts, try these native-level options perfect for upper-intermediate Japanese learners.
- Designed for native speakers as an instructional tool, Nyūsu no Gakkō (ニュースの学校) or “News School” is a podcast by Asahi Shimbun. Each episode is around 10 minutes and focuses on specific news terminology like “yen depreciation” (enyasu, 円安), which will help you build relevant vocabulary you may not encounter otherwise.
- NHK is an excellent source for a variety of news media, including videos from TV programs, podcasts, and written articles. You can also get your news via NHK Radio News.
- The three dominant newspapers in Japan each have a long history and are well respected in Japanese journalism. These three are Asahi Shimbun, Yomiuri Shimbun, and Mainichi Shimbun.
Following Japanese news on social media
Getting some of your Japanese news from social media is a good way to get bits of practice in as you scroll through your feed. Social media posts are typically short and focused, and you can also learn some informal Japanese by looking at the comments or replies. Get started by following any of the major news outlets.
As in any language, proceed with caution if you get news from Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, or similar platforms. When you look at sources outside of traditional, established news outlets, the information may not be as reliable. From a language practice standpoint, however, it’s one of the best ways to get exposed to modern Japanese slang and buzzwords!
- Nittere NEWS (日テレNEWS): Short for “Nippon Television,” Nittere NEWS has active social media accounts across all major platforms, giving you your news through long- and short-form videos and quick summaries with links to full articles on X (formerly Twitter).
- Weather News (ウェザーニュース): In a country that regularly endures typhoons and earthquakes, staying up to date on the weather and knowing weather and emergency preparedness terminology is a must for anyone visiting or living in Japan.
Tips for learning with Japanese news
The two best things you can do when using Japanese news as a learning tool is to consume the same piece more than once and to use all types of news media available to you.
- Read an article once to get the general idea and then go back and dig into the details.
- Watch a video all the way through and then rewind to parts you didn’t quite understand.
- Listen to a podcast while you cook dinner (passive listening) and then again later when you have the freedom to look up unfamiliar vocabulary (actively listening).
These general tips will also help you pick up the news when you learn Japanese:
- One of the best ways you can bridge the gap from intermediate to advanced when reading the news is to remove the furigana. This is a good check for your ability to read kanji without help, which is a big part of reading news in Japanese.
- Familiarize yourself with the Japanese era calendar, which has a traditional year counting system based on the emperor during that year. Some dates are written using this system even in modern Japanese (usually in formal situations). The current era as of August 2026 is Reiwa (令和).
- Depending on the news source you read, you might see “newspaper” romanized as shinbun or shimbun (both written as 新聞). Both are correct, but shimbun uses an older style of romanization, so newspapers that have been around for a long time tend to use an “m” instead of an “n.” When romanizing “newspaper” otherwise, use an “n.”
- Have a dictionary handy for unfamiliar vocabulary and kanji. You can either opt for dictionaries in a familiar style like Weblio or you can install a browser extension like 10ten (formerly Rikaichamp), which lets you hover over Japanese text and receive an immediate pop-up with definitions, kanji information, and more.
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