For the intermediate and up Japanese learner

In March of this year, Nihongo Journal, a magazine for those studying Japanese as a second language, ceased publishing. While the magazine had its faults, namely too much English translation and more furigana than I thought healthy for Kanji improvement, it was a well-put together monthly magazine complete with a CD and more stuff than one could ever hope to digest in a month’s time.

While ALC, the publisher, has added some content for Japanese learners to it’s Monthly Nihongo, a magazine geared towards teachers of Japanese, and have also recently introduced a new “free paper” monthly focused on foreigners living in Japan (J-Life), nothing has really stepped into the void created by Nihongo Journal’s demise, especially when it comes to intermediate and advanced learners.

One relatively new venture that I’m excited about is the monthly chuujoukyuu no nihongo magazine that started publishing this past summer. I recently subscribed to this at home after having used some material from past issues at the school I was attending. While it cannot hope to match the slickness of Nihongo Journal (frankly it looks more like a fanzine than a magazine), and there’s no CD, I’m finding it a very good way to maintain my reading ability as well as expand my vocabulary (a major weak point, I’m finding out).

Each issue is about 35 pages or so, and features topical news articles, a couple of Japanese usage or kanji quizes, a comic strip highlighting different aspects of Japanese culture and language usage, a “daily life” vocabulary builder (this month’s is about the common cold), a more in-depth look at an issue in today’s Japan (this month’s is regarding the issue of a female heir to the Imperial throne), and an extended reading passage . The nice thing about the magazine is that there is no English to be found anywhere in it. When vocabulary or expressions are explained, it’s done in Japanese. And what’s more, for most of the reading passages, they have chosen not to include furigana with the main text, but rather move this to a second page or boxed off at the bottom of the article. (I find that no matter what my kanji proficiency is, if there’s furigana above or below kanji, my eye immediately gravitates there, depriving myself of a chance to improve my kanji reading skills.)

I’m not sure if any of the major bookstores are carrying this yet, but subscription information is here. However, I don’t think they’re set up as yet to take subscription requests from folks overseas, making this a Japan-only thing for now. (If you are interested in the magazine and live outside of Japan, it might be worth your while to send them an email (listed at their site) so they’re aware of the interest).

Another new resource for intermediate and up students of Japanese that I’ve discovered is Nihongo-Juku, a blog-style site which aims to improve students’ reading and listening comprehension. It does that — there are mp3 files of the reading passages that can be downloaded to your mp3 player or listened to via your browser — but even nicer, the reading passages actually discuss different aspects of accepted (and not so accepted) Japanese usage (such as appropriate ways to respond to compliments, or how to express “I” properly). The site appears to have just gotten off the ground, but what’s been posted already seems right up my alley.

Last (and definitely least), I guess I should finally get around to announcing that I have a Japanese study blog, which I’ve only sporadically been posting to. However, now that intensive studying for this year’s Japanese Language Proficiency Exam is over, I hope to be spending more time there as I look for ways to keep studying. There’s not a whole lot up there at the moment, to be honest. (Perhaps knowing a couple of folks might actually be looking at it might spur me on to continue maintaining it).