This page is just a simple list of books that I have read, am reading, or want to read that are written in Japanese.
It’s not a complete list as I’ve forgotten the names of a lot of stuff I’ve read (especially stuff online which is where I’ve done the majority of my reading until recently) but I am continuing to add to it constantly.
Bare in mind that this is meant to be just a list so I won’t be going into every small detail about every book. I will however try to right down the genre and how difficult the books I’ve read are. These difficulties are very very rough and I will often give books that have furigana an easier level despite the content itself being difficult as furigana can be a great learning tool in helping you reach higher levels.
Hopefully this will be useful to some of you if you are stuck trying to find books in Japanese.
I would also recommend checking out the following guides I’ve written on buying physical and digital Japanese books:
- A Guide to Buying Books That Are Written in Japanese
- Where to Buy Japanese eBooks + Thousands of Free eBooks
You can also find my book reviews here, which contain some of the books from this list but I go into them in more detail.
僕が過去に読んだ本 – Books I’ve Read
《外国人向け》日本語の本 Japanese Books Aimed at Foreigners Studying Japanese
I found these books in my University library when I first started learning Japanese and don’t remember much about their difficulty but they all have English translations or explanations which can be helpful when starting to read real Japanese. Next time I go to the library I will flick through them again and add their difficulty.
However, I recommend you do what I did which was to ignore the English as much as possible and to attempt to understand Japanese, in Japanese.
- Read Real Japanese Fiction – Has furigana, intermediate difficulty.
- Read Real Japanese Essays – Has furigana, lower-intermediate difficulty.
- Breaking into Japanese Literature – Has furigana, higher-intermediate difficulty.
小説 Novels
- ブントフン by 井上ひさし Difficulty: Higher intermediate
- 家族シネマ by 柳美里 Difficulty: Lower advanced
- 走れメロス by 太宰 治 Difficulty: Intermediate
- こころ by 夏目漱石 Difficulty: Higher advanced
- エラゴン 遺志を継ぐ者―ドラゴンライダー by クリストファー パオリーニ Difficulty: Advanced
- 夢十夜 by 夏目漱石 Difficulty: Higher advanced
- ハリーポッターと賢者の石 by Ｊ．Ｋ．ローリング Difficulty: Intermediate
- ゲームウォーズ (Ready Player One) by アーネスト・クライン Difficulty: Intermediate
- アカガミ by 窪美澄 Difficulty: Intermediate
自己啓発 Personal Development
- お金を稼ぐ人は何を学んでいるのか？ by 稲村 徹也 Difficulty: Lower intermediate
- 親は１００％間違っている by 長倉顕太 Difficulty: Lower intermediate
- 戦略的グズ克服術―ナウ・ハビット by ネイル A.フィオーレ Difficulty: Intermediate
- なんで時間がないんだ？ by 菅野 結希 Difficulty: Lower intermediate
- 残業ゼロの一日一箱仕事術 by 佐々木 正悟 Difficulty: Intermediate
- 僕は君たちに武器を配りたい by 瀧本 哲史 Difficulty: Higher intermediate
- 自分を操る超集中力 by メンタリストDaiGo Difficulty: Intermediate
- 「超」速読勉強法 by 椋木 修三 Difficulty: Higher intermediate
- 黒い心理術 くれぐれも悪用は禁止 しぐさや言葉をひとひねり！ 交渉ごとや恋愛などで役立つ48の術 by 大創出版 Difficulty: Intermediate
- 英語は絶対、勉強するな!―学校行かない・お金かけない・だけどペラペラ by 鄭 讃容 Difficulty: Intermediate
漫画 Manga
- DEATH NOTE by 大場 つぐみ,小畑 健 Difficulty: Higher beginner
- 進撃の巨人 by 諫山 創 Difficulty: Beginner
- アカメが斬る！ by 田代 哲也 Difficulty: Beginner
- よつばと！ by あずま きよひこ Difficulty: Lower beginner
- ドラゴンボール完全版 by 鳥山 明 Difficulty: Lower beginner
- 空母いぶき by かわぐち かいじ Difficulty: Lower advanced
- Cat Shit One vol.1 by 小林源文 Difficulty: Intermediate
ソフトウェア開発/ソフトウェア工学 Software Development/Software Engineering
- 人月の神話 by フレデリック・P・ブルックス Jr. Difficulty: Higher advanced
- Javaによるプログラミング―アルゴリズムとデータ構造 by 芳賀博英、新淳 Difficulty: Higher advanced
僕が現在読んでいる本 – Books I’m Reading
辞書 Dictionaries
- 広辞苑 第七版 Difficulty: ???
(I explain why I’m reading a dictionary here)
小説 Novels
ライトノベル Light novels
漫画 Manga
- Fate Stay Night Heaven’s Feel by タスクオーナ / TYPE-MOON Difficulty: Higher intermediate
積読本 – Books Collecting Dust (Tsundoku)
ライトノベル Light Novels
僕が今後読みたい本 – Books I Want to Read
自己啓発 Personal Development
- 絶対にミスをしない人の脳の習慣 by 樺沢 紫苑
- 10倍速く書ける 超スピード文章術 by 上阪 徹
- 大事なことに集中する―――気が散るものだらけの世界で生産性を最大化する科学的方法 by カル・ニューポート
- オーガスト流 30日で体が10歳若返る食事 by オーガスト・ハーゲスハイマー
- メンタリストDaiGoの心を強くする300の言葉 by メンタリスト DaiGo
- これがメンタリズムです メンタリストになれる本 by メンタリストDaiGo
- 「好き」を「お金」に変える心理学 by メンタリストDaiGo
- 限りなく黒に近いグレーな心理術 by メンタリストDaiGo
- 人生を思い通りに操る 片づけの心理法則 by メンタリストDaiGo
- 人を操る禁断の文章術 by メンタリストDaiGo
- 一瞬でYESを引き出す 心理戦略。 by メンタリスト DaiGo
- ポジティブ・チェンジ by メンタリスト DaiGo
- 大人の語彙力ノート by 斎藤孝
- 努力不要論――脳科学が解く! 「がんばってるのに報われない」と思ったら読む本 by 中野信子
- うまい質問 by 神岡真司
- 好きなこただけで生きていく by 堀江貴文
- スタンフォード式最高の睡眠 by 西野精治
- スタンフォード式 疲れない体 by 山田 知生
- さあ、才能(じぶん)に目覚めよう―あなたの5つの強みを見出し、活かす by マーカス・バッキンガム
- 頭のいい説明「すぐできる」コツ―今日、結果が出る! by 鶴野 充茂
- やり抜く人の9つの習慣 コロンビア大学の成功の科学 by ハイディ・グラント・ハルバーソン
- 年利５％を実現する投資の教科書 by 伊藤武