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About the series

Six graded levels providing engaging stories for all learners of Japanese.

Let’s Read Japanese is the first series of Japanese graded readers linked to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. 

Until now, there have been very limited graded reading materials for Japanese learners and teachers. The first official series from Oxford Brookes University, Let’s Read Japanese, has been developed by experienced teachers in Japanese as a foreign language in response to the vast acceleration in the numbers of learners of Japanese as a foreign language.

Aims and scope

A departure from traditional textbooks, the series aims to appeal to both the young and the adult learner of Japanese, providing:

  • a combination of entertaining stories, eye-catching design and original illustrations ensuring learners will want to read for pleasure.
  • research-backed content, moving away from fixed, prescriptive vocabulary to ‘real world’ lists.
  • a focus on Japanese culture (a key area of interest for Japanese learners prior to their decision to learn the language) which goes beyond popular culture and representations of Japan in the media and raises awareness of other, less well-known aspects of Japanese culture.  

About the publisher

Oxford Brookes University is one of several UK universities offering both a combined and single honours undergraduate programme in Japanese. Oxford Brookes has particular expertise in Japanese as a foreign language, with research strength in Japanese language pedagogy. Let's Read Japanese is:

  • supervised by Suzuko Anai (Senior Lecturer in Japanese Studies at Oxford Brookes University)
  • project managed by Dr Irène Hill (Programme Lead for Modern Languages at Oxford Brookes University). 

The series benefits from the expertise of consultants from the Oxford International Centre for Publishing Studies, located at Oxford Brookes University.

About the books

Let’s Read Japanese is a series of 6 graded levels, each comprising a set of 10 books.

Designed with the help of students to be entertaining to read and eye-catching, each level includes a re-telling of famous, classic tales, Japanese legends and poems as well as some new stories.

Browse our books

Women at alter

Framework of Reference for Languages

The Let’s Read Japanese (LRJ) books meet the following grades:

LRJ levels Number of characters per story Vocabulary range Europe – CEFR levels US – ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines
1 500 500 - 1500 A1 Novice
2 800 1500 - 2000 A2-1 Intermediate
3 1200 2000 - 3000 A2-2 Intermediate High
4 1500 3000 - 5000 B1-1 Advanced Low
5 2000 5000 - 8000 B1-2 Advanced Mild
6 3000 8000 - 10000 B2 Advanced High