Learn Japanese with Yokai! Volume 2: Tengu
Build your Japanese reading skills while exploring one of Japan's most famous supernatural creatures.
High in the mountains lives the tengu: long-nosed, red-faced, capable of flight, magic, disappearing acts, and the occasional violent windstorm. Depending on the story, a tengu might mislead you, rescue you, teach you swordsmanship, or simply remind you that wandering alone into a mysterious mountain is rarely a sensible life choice.
Learn Japanese with Yokai! Tengu is a guided Japanese reader for upper beginners through intermediate learners. Rather than giving you a wall of Japanese text and wishing you luck, the book helps you work through authentic Japanese one sentence at a time, with the vocabulary, grammar, cultural background, audio, and practice you need to understand what you're reading.
Three major reading sections explore the tengu from different angles:
About the Tengu — Meet the mountain-dwelling yokai, its appearance, supernatural powers, connection with mountain ascetics and ninja legends, and the surprising history of the word itself.
Origin of the Tengu — Where did the tengu come from? Explore several theories involving ancient Japanese gods, mountain worship, bird-like spirits, and other attempts to explain how this strange creature took shape in the Japanese imagination.
Tengu Stories — Read legends from around Japan, including the famous story of young Minamoto no Yoshitsune learning swordsmanship from a tengu on Mount Kurama, a lost child mysteriously returned home, and Mount Takao's remarkable Octopus Cedar.
Each section is designed to take you from supported reading to independent comprehension.
You'll get:
Before You Read primers introducing useful background and grammar
Sentence-by-sentence Japanese with furigana on every kanji
Detailed vocabulary explanations directly beneath each sentence
Grammar spotlights and cultural notes where they matter
A complete Japanese-only version for a second, unassisted reading
Review & Practice exercises covering comprehension, particles, translation, and more
Full answer keys
English summaries for checking your understanding
Kanji in Focus pages with stroke order, readings, meanings, components, example words, and memory aids
Free bonus learning materials are also included:
Native-speaker audio at both slow and natural speeds
PDF and EPUB editions
Anki vocabulary flashcard decks
Makoto+ Japanese Explorer access on the web and in the Makoto app
With the Japanese Explorer, you can listen to individual sentences, explore word-by-word breakdowns, reveal translations, and reinforce what you've learned with quizzes and games.
Who is this book for?
The main text is aimed at upper beginners around JLPT N4 and above, but motivated newer learners can work through it slowly with the extensive support provided. Intermediate learners will find plenty to study as well, especially in the natural vocabulary, grammar notes, folklore, and cultural commentary.
If ordinary textbook dialogues about buying train tickets are beginning to lose their supernatural thrill, come to the mountains instead.
Learn Japanese. Meet the tengu. Try not to annoy one.