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.

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.

Bauddha.net ・ Bi-Lingual Book List

Bauddha.net is a great source for dual readers (English and Japanese literature)! Genres for your bilingual reading pleasure include famous novels, children's stories, philosophy, and government. Click on a title and then click on the 閲覧する button to open it. The English version will be on the left side and the Japanese version will be on the right side.

If you have the Rikaichan dictionary tool, looking up words that you don't know becomes as easy as hovering your mouse or cursor over that text! How much can of the text can you understand without the English version?

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.

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.

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.

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.

Japanese Nihongo - Conversation

This is a page directed from Japanese-nihongo.com which lists a variety of different conversation topics for beginners including but not limited to introductions, first visit to Japan, taking the train, and getting lost. These conversation lessons are geared towards beginner and intermediate students of Japanese. Options for viewing the lessons may be in HTML webpage form, or PDF or DOC which you can download and save to your computer. In many cases, there are audio files included which play in your web browser.

If you click the Home link at the top of the page, you can find a link which directs you to entries--including some written in Japanese that you can study. There is also links for more conversation dialogues, JLPT, and essays. If you are ready for advance level, I think you will also like reading these.

WebJapanese

WebJapanese might simple like a bland simple sight upon first sight of the homepage, but there is so much information available to anyone wanting to learn Japanese language, culture, history, and more! While there is different links available, maybe the ones you might find most interesting and helpful to learning about Japan and life there are:





Fun reading:There are readings in English and Japanese written by native Japanese, foreigners living in Japan, people married to Japanese, etc. Topics include marriage, language, life in Japan, recipes, and entertainment.


Archive - Free Japanese Learning Materials:
Via easy photo presentation, you can learn Japanese words and English translations of everyday life, food, nature, fashion, restaurants, history, and more.
 

Learn Japanese with "Pinterest":Although not as extensive, similar to the description of above, WebJapanese has a Pinterest page and you can see some photos mostly about language, history, and food.

Hukumusume Fairy Tales Collection

Hukumusume Fairy Tales Collection is a website where you can hear traditional folk tales, legends and fairy stories – from Japan and all around the world – read aloud for you in Japanese. You can listen to readings of Japanese legends and folklore, short stories from the Edo period and traditional ghost tales. The website includes not only the audio but also text of the stories. There are some animated ‘kamishibai’ (Japanese-style picture story shows). This site in in Japanese but you can look for specific stories using a keyword search.