Hi, we are Clay & Yumi. You found us from our Instagram lessons, so here is the short version of everything we make. Most of it is free.
We have been teaching Japanese online since 1999. If you only do one thing on this page, make it the first box.
Join Makoto+ free
No credit card, and it stays free. Creating an account takes about thirty seconds and gets you all of this straight away:
- Our Kanji 100 ebook with MP3s, the hundred most useful kanji, as a sign-up gift
- The Makoto+ app on iPhone and Android, with twelve full stories read aloud by a native speaker at slow and natural speed
- A new sentence broken down every week, with grammar notes and shadowing practice that takes about five minutes
- Around 24 new vocabulary words a month, at beginner and intermediate level
- Sentence Explorer, our tap-any-sentence reading tool. It is included with every membership, the free one very much included.
Free forever. No credit card. Unsubscribe from the emails any time.
Two more free books
Hiragana, the Basics of Japanese
Brand new to Japanese? Start with the alphabet. This is a 48-page booklet with mnemonics and illustrations, plus flashcards, posters, a printable practice pad and the sound files for every character. Most people get through it in about two weeks at a few minutes a day.
Download hiragana freeThe 100 most essential kanji
The hundred kanji that do the most work in everyday Japanese, with readings, meanings and sound files. This is the same book you get for joining Makoto+, so if you signed up above, it is already yours and you can skip this one.
Download the kanji book freePrefer a lesson in your inbox?
Our free email courses send you one short lesson at a time, so you make progress without having to plan anything. Pick a track and we will take it from there.
Have a look around while you are here
This site, TheJapanesePage.com, is free to read and always has been. There are hundreds of lessons on grammar, kanji, reading, listening and culture, and most of them come with audio. The menu at the top of the page is the fastest way in, and the JLPT N5 and N4 sections are a good place to start if you are studying for the test.
What's New at TheJapanesePage.com?!
If you want to go further
Everything above is free because of the people who buy our books and join Makoto+. If you would like to support what we do, these are the two ways that help most.
Digital bundles at The Japan Shop
Our ebook bundles run up to 50% below the Kindle prices, and every one of them includes the sound files. One payment, instant download, free updates for life.
See the digital bundlesA paid Makoto+ plan
Samurai starts at $5 a month and adds our magazine, Makoto, with each new issue yours to download and keep. Shogun adds the full back-issue archive to read on the web, plus over a hundred unlocked stories in Sentence Explorer.
Compare the plansKeep in touch
If you are not following us on Instagram yet, that is where the daily lessons live: @thejapanshop. And if you ever get stuck on something, write to us. We read every message.
