MangaGet - mang.jp

On mang.jp, browse several genres of Japanese comics online for free. Some genres include comedy/gag, fantasy, 4-panel shorts, horror/scary stories, romance, and MORE! Just click on a title that interests you to open it up in a reader. You can use the click of your mouse or the SPACE or ENTER key to turn to the next page. Great site if your looking for reading materials in Japanese.

Nekopi - Fun Learning Content Site

Nekopi great place to study Japanese (and other subjects) in Japanese! While there's no English to guide you, you can start to put your Japanese language skills to the test.

This site is designed for schoolchildren in Japan, but a site like this can help to improve your skills as a learner of Japanese, too. Because there are lots of pictures and images, you can try to navigate the site on your own. Also, here is some help with navigating the site!

The content available for study and play include:　さんすう Arithmetic , こくごJapanese language,　りか Science,　えいご English,　しゃかい Social Studies,　ようちえん Kindergarten learning,　げーむほか Games,　うた Songs,　アニメ Anime, and　キャラ＆まんが Characters & Manga.

There is a wealth of learning materials and information here! You can learn about the history of Japan, learn songs in Japanese, pick up new vocabulary such as foods which exists in Japan, and so much more.

*Some games and activities might take a bit of time because of the flash player.

Pict-Box ・ Online Story Books

Pict-Box has FREE online storybooks geared towards small children. But these are great if you're learning Japanese and looking for reading practice material! Genres of storybooks here include laughter, cry, surprise, calming, scary, and more! Click on an image of a story that interests you. On the page which loads, you should click the grey button which reads この絵本をよむ to open your selection. Then, with easy navigational buttons you can enjoy the story!

E-Douwa ・ FREE Online Fairytales

On E-Douwa you can find a variety of fairy tales include Greek mythology, Grimm fairy tales, Japanese folklore, Origami art stories, and more! Just click on a genre to get started. A page of available stories loads. Make a selection and your story will load with an easy navigation bar at the bottom of the virtual book! This is a really great site for kids, and beginner and intermediate learners of Japanese.

BB Super Sound ・ JAPANESE Karaoke

BB Super Sound brings Japanese-style karaoke right to your home with FREE online access! With more than 3,000 tunes, there is a wide song selection available here. The most popular tunes include artists such as AKB48, Kyari PamuPamu, Utada Hikaru, Arashi, Morning Musume, and GReeeeN.

Click the orange カラオケ button to begin. You can search by artist via the アーティスト名 field and you can enter the song title in the field marked 曲名. You should note: If you are searching for Arashi, for example, you can only find this artist if you type 嵐. Typing あらし or "Arashi" wont produce any results. Once results are produced, a red Play symbol, when clicked, will work on your computer. You can enjoy a karaoke screen with lyrics and background movie as if you were in an actual karaoke room in Japan. As for the blue Play buttons, those are MIDI files which require an ".mlr" player that seems to be available only in Asian countries. In other words, unless you have a MIDI file player on your computer these songs most likely won't be accessible.

Nissan N-Link ・ WEB Picture Book

Japan's Nissan corporation includes a special WEB Picture Book section on its website. Personally, this is one my favorite websites for reading practice! First of all there are 3 FREE interactive stories to choose from on this Japanese website: Issunboushi (The Inch-High Samurai), アラジンとまほうのランプ (Aladdin & the Magic Lamp), and ももたろう (The Peach Boy).
This is a very well designed interactive storybook site! The stories are also well-narrated and illustrated with accompanying music and sound FX!

The stories include special interactive features like short activity breaks from the story, such as creating a dance and performing it for friends in Isshun boushi. And of course Nissan finds a cute way to include their *product*

These stories are lengthy written with furigana-attached Kanji characters. With the narrator's voice included, these stories are great for reading practice, listening comprehension, or for entertaining small children.

Kawasaki International Culture Exchange ・ Weekly PENPAL Newsletter

The Weekly PenPal Newsletter is perfect for you if you would like to make friends from Japan. The weekly pen pal news letter is FREE! A penpal list is sent out to your email 4 times per month. This lists includes penpals of all ages from around the world. Many of them are from Japan!

Interested in Japan culture? Traveling to Japan? Want to receive snail mail letters written in Japanese? Create long-lasting friendships with someone through this culture exchange site.

Some people prefer snail mail to Email. Some are eager to send you something like a photo, letter, and maybe even a small souvenir!

Sign up is completely FREE. Start a new friendship today!

宇宙教育テレビ ・ Space Education TV

On this Space Education TV website, you can access over 100 recorded live stream of science news! This site is geared toward young kids but is a perfect study tool for Japanese language learners, too. The hosts don't speak too fast and often pause. Also the terminology used, even though its science-related, isn't too complicated because it is for kids understanding. If you enjoy science, want to see the culture of Japan's education and classrooms, or you want to work on your listening comprehension, this site has hours and hours of educational information for your ears.

Just scroll down and click on one of the 100+ video stream links!

夢があるなら・Moving Picture Book

This Moving Picture Book site has a variety of FREE moving pictures books! You can access some of them on the main page and even more when you click on the red 動く絵本 button from the menu bar. You will see after clicking that the categories of the available picture books have been divided by age range. Actually, these store are for infant, small, children, and younger school kids(actually there is an 'Adult' category). However, this site is great for learners of Japanese!

Once you click a story you like, it will usually begin automatically but might require you to click 'Start" or the 'Play' button. Some stories have text and sound but no narration, some have words and sound but no narration, and in some case, there is sound, text, AND a narrator!　The categories designed for younger ages might include all 3 components, if that's what you prefer, because babies, for example, can't read :P

There may be a green フールスクリーンで見る button which allows you to view a full screen version.
There may also blue ＹｏｕＴｕｂｅで見る button which allows you to view the moving picture story via YouTube.

Stories of Hara Peko Monster - Yahoo! Kids eBooks

Stories of Hara Peko Monster are available here for free and in three forms! Click on the links to access each of the five stories. Clicking each link takes you to a page where you can read the story right online, download it to your computer このお話をまとめてダウンロードする, or print it このページを印刷する. There are just a few Kanji characters in these stories so its an easy read.

Also, there are a few more free stories available if you scroll down a little on the main page. Enjoy!

Gakken Kids Net - eBooks for Kids

Gakken Kids Net has free previews for eBooks. Click the image of the eBook of your choice. You can watch the preview via the YouTube video there!Although they are just previews, these make great reading practice for learners of Japanese and kids can enjoy them, too. Another wonderful thing about this is the audio of native speakers reading aloud. The video quality is so clear. You can read along, too!

Jコミ - Japanese Comics

J-Comi offers wide selection of manga with free previews! To access the FREE previews select any option listed on the left side of the screen. If you can't read the Japanese on this site, Rikaichan would be a great tool for you! Once your results load, click on a comic that appeals to you. If you scroll down just a little, you'll see a green この本を読む button. Click it to open up your selection. Kanji may appear in the comic.

Use the blue and white keys to turn the pages. You can learn the functions of the other keys after just a minute of playing around with them.

MixPaper - Free Publications

MixPaper offers well over 150+ FREE publications for children, teens, and adults! This link takes you straight to that page. Click on any image that looks appealing to you! Click on the re 読む button. Your book will open up in a special viewer which allows you to flip through pages just like a real magazine! To make the print bigger click on the red + 拡大 button at the top of the screen. You can quickly learn the functions after a minute of playing around with it.

Though you might find some reading materials to fit your level, I recommend this site for learning more about Japanese culture. There are magazines on stylish Japanese homes and floor plans, sports, and kid's comics.

Kurumi no Mori - Online Picture Books

Kurumi no Mori has 4 picture books in Hiragana. Click one of the four stories. Then click OPEN to load and begin your story. Music accompanies the stories as you read along.These stories are great for beginners and children.

Tomodachi Picture Book Hall

Tomodachi Picture Book Hall is grear reading practice! This site is in Japanese but that's OK! Click on any title and the story opens up in a new window. Initially the loading is a little slow and there is no audio, however, the pictures move and the stories have accompanying music background which is very lovely. Most stories are in Hiragana. You might see basic level Kanji.

FujiPan - Famous Folktales

While this Japanese bread site offers products, recipes, and more, this post highlights the section called FujiPan to wa Hagukumu which has famous folktales for kids that are also great for learners of Japanese. There are tons of stories which you can select by genre. There is also a section which has the stories categories by each prefecture of Japan where the story is popular. You don't need perfect Japanese to navigate to the stories. Just scroll down and click on the picture or its title!

When you do click, a separate window opens up the story which are all accompanied by audio file so you can follow or read along! These stories include Kanji characters, but there are Hiragana readings in parenthesis which are also included.

School House Family Net - Game Plaza

School House Family Net is in Japanese and geared towards Japanese children but it's a great resource and entertainment venue for learners of Japanese, especially if you love games!

If you have the Rikaichan tool which allows you to scroll your mouse over Japanese text for translations, this site works well with it. If not, you can learn more about it here. Use Rikaichan by hovering your mouse over text to better navigate this site.

Explore the site! You can find some games and activities that will give you good practice!

...Like these:

• Scroll down and click 頭脳系 and click はっぴーヘアメイク
  In this game, commands are given in Hiragana. Following these commands you have to style the clients hair appropriately!
• Scroll down and click アクション・シューティング系 and click  ウサコ・うさおの雪合戦
  Press the yellow Start button. Choose your character. Collect and throw snowballs. You can get some reading practice while enjoying a good snowball fight!
• Scroll down and click 入学準備 学習幼稚園 on the left hand side. Click on the first option: ゲームコーナー , scroll down again and click on プレー！　to play なぞポンの　なぞなぞゲーム２. Practice your reading skills and identifying matching vocabulary to such questions such as:
  まるくて　あまくて　おいしい　けど、　まなかが　たべられない　おかし　なんだ？
  What do you call the snack which is round and sweet but the middle can't be eaten?
  
  It's not hard to be directed to sites for purchasing items, but I hope you can find this site helpful.
  

NHK for School

NHK for School Don't let this site scare you off because it it completely in Japanese. It might be kind of confusing if you dont know how to read much Kanji...but...You can access so many different types of content on this site! Though the site is designed for young children and students in Japan, it's a great resource for any person studying Japanese! It can get downright confusing, but just click around and visit this site from time to time and bookmark what's suitable for your level! There are a lot of videos, games, etc. to boost and improve your Japanese language and cultural understanding!

Here is a key and some links to get you started:
番組 -  TV Programs (Bangumi)
クリップ - Clips - Broadcast programs and short educational footage clipsWatch educational programs any time! Study what you are interested in and use for studying the information you are not completely comfortable with.Many of the videos here are 1-3 minute movies. There are supposedly over 3,000 clips.
ゲーム - Games - Educational pages with quizzes and games
There are tons of quizzes and games for fun and language learning including Recycling Trash, 

電子黒板 - (Electronic Blackboard (Denshi Kokuban)

－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－　

国語　こくご　　  Japanese language/national laguage (also as a subject in Japanese schools)
算数　さんすう　Arithmetic
理科　りか　　　 science
社会　しゃかい  society
総合　そうごう　coordination/comprehension

Yurudara SeeSaa - Flash Games for Infants & Children

Yurudara SeeSaa has several flash games. Most of these games are suitable for infants. But there is a game here where you can practice Hiragana character writing and another game where you serve as a chef in a restaurant. You may enjoy these!

Ba Ba Dum - Play and Learn

Ba Ba Dum is an online collection of games that lets you learn words in different languages by selecting the correct illustration of the example word. One of the languages offered is Japanese! You can pratice spelling words in Japanese, matching the word you see and hear to the correct picture among four pictures shown. 1500 words including nouns, adjectives, and verbs! Very great site for kids and beginner learner but also great site for reviewing learned material for upper levels. Create a free account to save your progress!