What kind of japanese content do you guys consume?

Japanese
#1

Hey everyone.

I feel like I’m getting stuck and haven’t been improving that much recently.
I do live in Japan and have the opportunity to speak often but I tend to rest on what I know already.

While learning english I got better by reading books and watching tons of tv shows. I’d like to do the same with japanese but I get bored with dramas or anime and while I could probably read easy books It’d feel like a chore more than something I can enjoy.

That’s why I wanna know what you guys read/watch/listen to to get better or just enjoy yourself in general. Maybe I can find something that could suit me too. :slight_smile:

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#2

Some non-drama TV Shows I have enjoyed over the years.

ゲームセンターCX: A famous one. Arino Shinya attempts to beat old usually unreasonably difficult games. Quite fun especially if you are familiar with the games he is playing.

探偵ナイトスクープ: Kind of fake but still enjoyable. Viewers send in an unusual request or scenario and a comedian meets the viewer and “investigates” whatever it was that was sent in.

マツコの知らない世界: Matsuko Deluxe interviews people with unusual skills or hobbies etc.

水曜どうでしょう: A super popular travel show with a comedy duo from Hokkaido.

YOUは何しに日本へ？: A famous one because every foreigner that has ever had to wait around at Narita Airport has probably been interviewed by these guys, including yours truly. They basically track a foreigner who is doing something interesting around Japan.

SASUKE：Only on News Years Eve. It’s the original Ninja Warrior.

5 Likes
#3

Movies are a good alternative to the general tone of japanese tv. Some recommendations:
Shoplifters (2018) - IMDb"
Ikari (2016) - IMDb
Creepy (2016) - IMDb
Perhaps a slight over corection in tone.
As far as reading, sometimes the easiest solution is just to read a Japanese translation of something in your own language you already intended to read, or have enjoyed previously and would like to read again.

3 Likes
#4

What kind of things do you enjoy watching in general? If you’re not focused on like specific leveled content, you could always just throw on some basic travel documentary which I’m sure are on YouTube. Like an actual one, not the ones made by vloggers haha. I enjoy these both because of the topic itself but also each topic seems to bring about different kinds of vocab you’d otherwise not hear. Episodes centered around food, shopping, textile work, sake brewing, etc!

Some people aren’t a fan of it but I always liked Japan Hour (can’t remember the Japanese atm) just because it’s really relaxing and simple to watch. Most episodes are probably on YouTube!

1 Like
#5

I like to watch a youtube channel called " yukatabi "!
She’s a Japanese woman travelling around Japan (and sometimes abroad) and kinda blogging about her experiences; eating new foods, visiting cool places (It’s mostly a food blog though)
She has Japanese subtitles on her videos describing her thoughts and stuff, but she does talk occasionally! I just find her videos super relaxing and enjoyable to watch, and aesthetically very pleasing! It’s also really good practice for my Japanese trying to read the subtitles! I’ve learned a lot of new words because of it! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzA2kM7mouGHv6tEOK7dNBQ

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#6

I just finished watching Creator’s File: GOLD on Netflix and thought it was one of the funniest things I saw in while, I laughed so hard. Ryuji Akiyama is hilarious and he does a mockumentary style, each episode a different character & story; much of it pokes fun at Japanese culture itself. He has a YT channel as well.

4 Likes
#8

I don’t like anime especially but I watch a lot of it on Netflix for practice. There are some good live-action shows there too. I enjoyed Alice in Borderland and Erased.

I’m mostly interested in stuff from the 70s–90s that shaped Japan’s popular culture. I’ve been watching the 寅さん movies (which Netflix Japan has), the トラック野郎 series (which I think Hulu Japan has), Ultraman, and Super Sentai.

2 Likes
#9

I don’t really watch much anime myself. Recently I’ve tried watching 極主夫道 (way of the househusband), because it is short burst and relatively daily life Japanese (with some I assume kind of banchou-talk).

Anyways, I tend to try to do more reading on the Todai application or using the レベル別多読日本語 series because I’m interested in various Japanese folktales, famous people and culture. It’s a good way to learn both Japanese and about the culture (though, the are other stories from around the world.

Hope that helps.

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#10

Wow thanks for all the good suggestions !
A lot of those definitely seem appealing, I’m going to take a look at all that. :slight_smile:

Watching movies and documentaries seem like a good idea, I’m interested in most topics to be honest but I just can’t handle japanese acting. I enjoyed The naked director though as an exception.

Do you have simple podcasts recommendations ? I spend a lot of time listening to podcasts throughout the day but mostly found some recommendations for podcasts teaching japanese which I’m not really interested in. :confused:

1 Like
#11

I listen to Sayuri saying. It’s more casual conversation style podcasts but she does occasionally pause to explain more uncommon vocab.

2 Likes
#12

Since I enjoy Touhou and Minecraft and don’t mind robot voice, I watch ゆっくり series, e.g. 動物園をつくりたい.
I also sometimes watch Blender tutorials. Half of UI use loan words from English, so as long as you know that えん means circle, it’s not hard to follow.

No, seriously, check katakana to kanji ratio

image

2 Likes
#13

Two podcasts I listen to that are also commonly recommended are Japanese with Noriko and Nihongo con Teppei.

I’ve been listening more to Japanese with Noriko, and it’s done wonders for my listening comprehension. They’re 100% Japanese, fairly short episodes that come out daily so they cover all sorts of topics. Would highly recommend if you are looking for entirely native, but still relatively easy/intermediate japanese podcasts.

5 Likes
#14

You can find some good stuff to listen to on youtube if you search 朗読. A lot of it’s older stuff like Sherlock Holmes but also more modern stuff like this 【朗読】よるのばけもの - YouTube

3 Likes
#15

You could try the Kadokawa Tsubasa Bunkou books, the ones with green borders, can be found in most book shops at the kids section… Bookwalker Link : ( 角川つばさ文庫(文芸・小説、マンガ)

Reading a few of them really helped me to become more confident in reading plus some they are not that bad. They are like simplified light novels with more pictures. Plus having furigana on everything really helps when looking up words in the dictionary. Some also have movies like Your Name, Summer Wars.

From time to time, I go on the Bookwalker front page and read the sample of the first volume of anything that takes my fancy… Its kinda weird thing but this way, I have found new series that I like.

For a period, I used to try to read the web novels of some series eg 盾の勇者の成り上がり and use jisho as a dictionary (because its very easy to copy and paste / or just used Yomichan) … However light novels are (for the most part) written better hehe.

There days, I mainly read light novels / manga of the series that got me into learning Japanese or I am really into… For some series like Mushoku Tensei, I read a volume and then watch the anime episodes (with English subs). That way I can enjoy reading something new and enjoy the anime without worrying about comprehension hehe

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#16

I’m not interested in anime or manga or whatever people typically associate with Japanese pop culture, so I mainly listen to podcasts, which have been mentioned already.

Apart from that, I also watch Japanese weather forecast on Youtube occasionally. However, this is 100% native content, and as an intermediate learner, I can understand anywhere between 20% and 90% of the spoken Japanese, depending on what they’re talking about. The good thing is that visual aids provide context, which increases my ability to understand. Also, it’s hard to get bored even if I can’t understand some of the content since the casters are hella cute…

3 Likes
#17

I listened a bit of Nihongo con teppei this morning, it seems like it’d suit me, thanks!

Life before death, Stormblessed :wink:

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#18

Yeah, Japanese with Norko is also a good one. Which do you prefer, Japanese con Teppe or Japanese with Noriko?

I also listen to Sayuri Saying a lot but I’ve already listened to most of her episodes on spotify.

#19

For any Harry Potter fans I found a youtube channel who’s producing readings of the books. Be careful of the audio because they initially added some sound effects that were too loud


They’re part way into the Chamber of Secrets.

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#20

I have been listening to Noriko’s podcast significantly more so if I had to pick I would say I prefer her podcast. It’s just personal preference though. I would not say that it’s better just that it suits me more. For anyone deciding, the episodes are so short just have a listen to 2 or 3 of each and you should get a good idea of what you’re getting yourself into!

#21

I thought you were exaggerating about the sound effects but yep not even 10 seconds in and I’m bleeding from the ears, hell yeah.

1 Like