BritVSJapan

Using Reddit to Learn Japanese

Are you trying to immerse in Japanese but find yourself using the English side of reddit everyday?

Have you already reached a high level of Japanese and want to expand your cultural knowledge?

Are you a beginner of Japanese, looking to dive straight into native content to speed up your learning?

Whatever your situation I highly recommend you make use of the Japanese threads that are available on reddit.

These subreddits are on a variety of different topics and they can give you a real insight into normal everyday Japanese and “internet Japanese”.

One thing to note though, Japanese don’t tend to use Reddit as much as the English side of the internet do.

In fact, reddit is pretty much dead in Japan. But even if it’s dead, you can still learn a lot from old posts in these subreddits.

This post is a great resource though as you will find a massive variety of Japanese sites that you would never have known about before, so I definitely recommend going through and taking a look at some of the subreddits here.

If you want a similar experience to reddit then the Japanese have a similar site, which is incredibly popular, called 2ちゃんねる which I also suggest checking out.

What is Reddit?

From wikipedia: “Reddit is an American social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website. Reddit’s registered community members can submit content such as text posts or direct links. Registered users can then vote submissions up or down that determines their position on the page.”

It is essentially a massive forum that contains content for just about an topic you can think of. Food, pets, books, games, meditation, literally anything!

It is an incredibly popular site that contains a lot of amazing high quality content, but most of it is in English and it is pretty difficult to find “subreddits” that are in another language besides English unless you already speak that language.

So today I have gathered as many subreddits that are written in (native) Japanese for you Japanese learners out there looking for native content to get your teeth immersed into.

I started writing this post ages ago and forgot about it. Some of the translations may not be accurate as I suck at translating between the two languages and because I translated a lot of this way before I reached fluency. I got the original list from some link I found on the Japanese side of the internet somewhere which I’ve since lost track of.

Please also note that I haven’t checked every single link either. There maybe some content in this list that you might not want to look at in front of your family members or at work, you have been warned. I’ve tried to remove most of the NSFW threads from the original list as possible but if you find any please tell me and I’ll remove them. 

So without further ado, here’s the list.

The Ultimate List of Japanese Subreddits (SFW)

Technology

/r/Android_JP	Android
/r/hackintosh_ja	Hackintosh
/r/Linux_jp	Linux
/r/windowsphonejp	Windows Phone Japan
/r/hardware_ja	Hardware
/r/jisakupc	Homemade PC’s
/r/raspberry_pi_ja	Raspberry Pi

Reddit

/r/RedditsHistory_ja	History of Reddit
/r/chiebukuro	Reddit’s bag of wisdom
/r/ja	Japanese version of reddit
/r/modclubhouse_ja	A place for Moderator’s to gather
/r/nsrarchive_jp	Reddit archives
/r/Reddit_Beginners	How to use reddit
/r/portal_ja	Reddit Japan Portal

SciFi

/r/ScienceFiction_ja

Science Fiction

Social Media

/r/Twetch9

Tweeting Channel 9

Anime and Manga

/r/anikyar_ja	Individual anime characters
/r/anison_jp	Anime songs
/r/chaos_dragon	Chaos Dragon
/r/charactorvoice	Voice Actors
/r/Charsenyou	Sub reddit dedicated to “Char”
/r/denpasong	Denpa songs
/r/fffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuJP	Rage Comic
/r/GJbu	GJ Club
/r/ja_manga	Manga
/r/japan_anime	Anime
/r/lovelive_ja	Love live
/r/lovelive_sunshine_ja	Love live sunshine
/r/mylittlepony_ja	My little pony
/r/old_anime_jp	Nostalgic anime
/r/Pripara_Ja	Puripara
/r/Robotanime	Robot Anime
/r/vablog_ja	Voice actor blog updates
/r/wakeupgirls_jp	Wake Up, Girls!
/r/webcomic_ja	Place to post manga

Internet

/r/asciiart_jp	ASCII art
/r/bookmarks_ja	URL Dumping Ground
/r/browsergame_jp	Browser Games
/r/css_ja	CSS Japanese
/r/netkaiko_jp	Nostalgic Net
/r/OnlineStorage_ja	Online Storage
/r/security_ja	Security
/r/PolandballJapanese	Japanese versions of the Polandball meme

Card Games

/r/Hearthstone_ja	Hearthstone
/r/yugiohocg	Yu-Gi-Oh!

Gravure

/r/SofmapGirls

Sofmap

Ｇrotesque

/r/hitogashinu	People dying
/r/newsl	News Lunatic

Games

/r/appligame_jp	Mobile Games
/r/AssassinsCreed_JA	Assassins Creed
/r/browsergame_jp	Browser Games
/r/chaos_dragon	Chaos Dragon
/r/citiesskylines_ja	Cities: Skylines （Japanese）
/r/consolegame	Console Games
/r/CubeLife_ja	Cube Life WiiU
/r/DarkSouls3_ja	Dark Souls 3
/r/dq_oheya_ja	Slime Room
/r/dqx_jp	Dragon Quest X
/r/elona_jp	Elona ~Little Sister Mansion~
/r/ffxiv_ja	FINAL FANTASY XIV
/r/FireEmblem_ja	Fire Emblem
/r/gamedev_ja	Game Developing
/r/gamemaker_ja	GameMaker:Studio
/r/gamemusic_jp	Game Music
/r/gamenews_ja	Game News
/r/gamerobo	Robot Games
/r/Gaming_Device	Gaming Devices
/r/granbluefantasy_ja	Grand Blue Fantasy
/r/GTAV_JP	GTA V
/r/gundambreaker2_jp	Gundam Breaker Series
/r/hortensia_saga	Hortensia Saga: Blue Knights
/r/imas_ja	Idol Master
/r/ingress_ja	Ingress
/r/iosgame_ja	IOS games
/r/Kakuge	Fighting Games
/r/kancolle_ja	Kan Kore
/r/LP_JA	Collection of Game Let’s Play Videos
/r/minecraft_jp	Minecraft
/r/MONOLITHSOFT_JP	Monolith Soft
/r/MonsterHunter_jp	Monster Hunter
/r/nintendo_jp	Nintendo
/r/otoge	Music Games
/r/pcgames_ja	PC Games
/r/pokemon_jp	pokemon_jp
/r/PSO2_jp	Phantasy Star Online 2
/r/retrogamejp	Retro Games
/r/rocksmith_jp	Rocksmith
/r/RogueLikesLOS	Roguelike
/r/RolePaint	Role Paint
/r/Shenmue_jp	Shenmue
/r/skyrimmod_jp	Skyrim MODs
/r/smartphonegame_ja	Games for Smart Phone
/r/Smite_JP	SMITE_JP
/r/StarCraft_JP	StarCraft_JP
/r/steamr	Steam
/r/StreetFighter_JP	Street Fighter
/r/TableTopGames_ja	Table Top Games
/r/thelongdark_jp	The Long Dark JP
/r/touhou_jp	Touhou Project
/r/treeofsavior_jp	Tree of Savior

Sports

/r/BayStars	Yokohama Bay Stars
/r/bicycle_ja	Bicycles
/r/Motorsports_ja	Motorsports and Parts
/r/nanJ	Baseball
/r/rugby_ja	Rugby
/r/soccer_jp	Soccer
/r/sumo_ja	Sumo wrestiling

Smartphone Games

/r/ingress_ja	Ingress
/r/iosgame_ja	ios games
/r/PokemonGo_Ja	Pokemon GO
/r/PuzzleAndDragons_ja	Puzzle and Dragons
/r/Smite_JP	SMITE
/r/smartphonegame_ja	Games for Smartphones

Software

/r/Android_JP	Android
/r/Blenderja	Blender
/r/CG_ja	CG (Computer graphics)
/r/Enhancement_ja	Reddit Enhancement Suite (ja)
/r/hackintosh_ja	Hackintosh
/r/pilgrim_android	Pilgrim for Android
/r/rv_dev	RV dev
/r/security_ja	Security
/r/software_ja	Software
/r/windowsphonejp	Windows Phone Japan

TV/Radio

/r/TVCommentators_jp	TV Commentators
/r/tvdrama_jp	TV Dramas
/r/TV_ja	TV JP

News

/r/BakaNewsJP	Baka News
/r/eiganews	Movie news for Japanese cinema fans
/r/energy_news_ja	Energy News
/r/GeinouNews	Celebrity News
/r/genpatu	Nuclear Power
/r/kawaraban	Kawaraban
/r/kenmou	Breaking news
/r/kokusaijyousei_ja	International Affairs
/r/neet4r	Neet news, looks like a guy’s diary…
/r/newsg	NewsＧ (Genuine)
/r/news_ja	News
/r/newsjoho	News and information
/r/newsl	NewsL
/r/newsoku	Breaking news
/r/newsokucontroversial	Breaking news (controversal)
/r/newsokuex	Breaking news EX
/r/newsokuexp	Breaking news express
/r/newsoku_jp	Breaking news Japan
/r/Newsoku_L	Breaking news L
/r/newsokuliberty	Break news liberty
/r/newsokur	Breaking news R
/r/newsokur_Backup	Breaking news Ɍ backup
/r/newsokurplus	Breaking news R+
/r/newssokuf	Breaking news F
/r/NewsSokuhou_R	Breaking news R
/r/privacy_ja	Privacy
/r/quake_jp	Earthquakes and disaster
/r/renhou_ja	Russia news
/r/shikyo	Market conditions
/r/sky_ja	Weather
/r/sokur2	Break news 2: People with spare time
/r/tikagenron	Underground discussions
/r/newsoku	Breaking news
/r/newsokuMoral	Breaking news ethics/morals
/r/newsokunomoral	Breaking news ethics/morals
/r/newsokur	Breaking news reddit
/r/newsokurev	Breaking news rev
/r/newsokuvip	Breaking news VIP
/r/newssokuf	Breaking news F

Comedic Material

/r/antixmas_ja	Anti Christmas
/r/apocalypse_jp	End of the world/gathering for the apocalypse
/r/dam_jp	Rivers, lakes and dams
/r/Fuee	Fuee
/r/H2GR	Reddit hitchhiking guide
/r/hitomozi_ja	1 letter/word/kanji
/r/inbou_ja	Plotting time
/r/manhole_jp	A sub thread for manhole covers (yup, you read that correctly)
/r/nfja	404 Not Found
/r/nununununu	Nu
/r/Ohmae_Kenichi	Kenichi Ohmae
/r/oraora	Ora Ora
/r/pseudoChinese	Pseudo Chinese (funny when you know kanji)
/r/washlet_jp	Sinks, showers and toilets…
/r/yajirushi	Arrows?!

Internet

/r/netservice_ja

Internet service

Online Games

/r/Eve_ja	EVE Online
/r/Fallout4_ja	Fallout 4
/r/GlobalOffensive_ja	Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
/r/heroesofthestorm_ja	Heroes of the Storm
/r/League_of_Legends_JP	League of Legends
/r/mmorpg_ja	MMORPG
/r/PSO2_jp	Phantasy Star Online 2
/r/starcitizen_ja	Star Citizen
/r/StarCraft_JP	StarCraft
/r/WoWs_ja	World of Warships & WW II movie collections

Internet short stories

/r/NetNovel_ja

Internet short stories

Programming

/r/sicp_ja

SICP ja

Horror

/r/ScaryStory_JP

Horror stories

Mascot characters

/r/MascotCharacter_ja

Mascot characters

Mystery

/r/Mystery_ja

Mystery

Media

/r/Editorial_jp	Editorial
/r/TUSOSS	Sankei Newspaper Fabrications

Lifestyle

/r/100kin	100 yen goods
/r/CreditCard_jp	Credit cards
/r/dam_jp	Rivers, lakes, dams
/r/deai_konkatsu_jp	Dating/marriage partner site reviews
/r/Gakusei_ja	School kids
/r/hage	The bald sub reddit
/r/interpretation_ja	Translation and interpretation
/r/kaigai_seikatsu	Living abroad
/r/karada	Body and health
/r/kojiki	Crazy deals for poor people
/r/kokoro	Body and soul
/r/koya_ja	Sheds
/r/qualification_jp	Qualifications and licenses
/r/souji_ja	Cleaning
/r/stationery_jp	Stationery
/r/Togoiryou_jp	Let’s support integrative medicine!
/r/yarou	Let’s do it!

Radio

/r/Radio_ja

Radio

Personal

/r/doraiso

Doraiso (some dude’s personal reddit)

Photos

/r/jinjya	Japanese Shrines
/r/kaleidoscope_ja	Kaleidoscopes

International

/r/cis_ja	Former Soviet Union
/r/kokusaijyousei_ja	International situation

Entertainment

/r/entertainment_jp

Entertainment

Studying

/r/butsurigaku	Physics
/r/eigo	English
/r/linguistics_ja	Linguistics
/r/philo_jp	Philosphy
/r/sugaku	Mathematics
/r/WriteJPN_EigoDeKakou	Write Japanese/Write English

History

 

/r/Jpn_History

Japanese History

Religion

/r/religions_ja

Religion

Commentary

/r/japan_anime	Anime
/r/J_SFX	Special Effects
/r/LP_JA	Let’s play video gamers
/r/Motorsports_ja	Motor sports
/r/Radio_ja	Radio
/r/sumo_ja	Sumo wrestling
/r/TVCommentators_jp	TV commentators
/r/tvdrama_jp	TV drama
/r/TV_ja	TV

Home Electrical Products

/r/Android_JP	Android
/r/apple_jp	Apple products
/r/digitalcamera_jp	Digital cameras
/r/kaden_ja	Home electrical products
/r/PortableAV_JP	Portable chargers

Reddit Browsers

/r/pilgrim_android	Reddit browser for android
/r/Reddiest	Reddit browser for android

Technology/Engineering

/r/cryptocurrency_ja	Crypto-currency
/r/eizo	Video production
/r/lisp_ja	LISP ja
/r/MachineLearning_JP	Machine learning
/r/OnlineStorage_ja	Online storage
/r/p18s	p18s
/r/programming_jp	Programming
/r/security_ja	Security

Politics and Economics

/r/giin	Members of parliament
/r/I_am_not_Abe	I am not Abe
/r/keizai	Economics
/r/kokkai	National Diet (legislative assembly of Japan)
/r/NMR_R	The peoples reformist movement
/r/ombudsman_ja	Ombudsman
/r/OtakuNetouyoStudies	Otakus and online right-wingers
/r/PanamaPapers_jp	Panama papers
/r/Politics_ja	Politics
/r/senkyo	Elections
/r/shikyo	Market conditions

Literature

/r/Cthulhu_ja	Cthulhu Mythos​
/r/dokusyo_syoseki_r	Reading books
/r/jisaku_poem	Creating poems
/r/narou	Let’s become an author
/r/relaynovel_ja	Relay novels
/r/Zartan_branch	Zartan

Travel

/r/airlines_ja	Airlines
/r/travel_ja	Travel

Film

/r/eiganews	movie news for Japanese cinema fans
/r/GuessTheEiga	Guess the film
/r/movie_ja	Films

Morning soap opera

/r/hiyokko

Hiyokko

Combat Sport

History

/r/Jomon	Jomon period
/r/Jpn_History	History of Japan
/r/Sangokushi	Age of the Three_Kingdoms multi-lingual
/r/sengoku	Warring States period
/r/whistory_ja	History of the western world

Law

/r/AskReddit_law_jp	AskReddit Law
/r/Law_ja	Law

Animals

/r/chipmunk_ja	Chipmunks
/r/hamsters_ja	Hamsters
/r/insects_ja	Insects
/r/koke_ja	Moss
/r/Lichenes_ja	Lichens​
/r/Microbes_Ja	Microbes

Images

/r/gazou	Images
/r/GirlsLove_ja	Good looking girls (SFW)

Society

/r/employee_jp	A subreddit for Japanese salary men
/r/hellowork	Hello Work Jobs
/r/lgbt_ja	LGBT Japan
/r/PanamaPapers_jp	Panama Papers
/r/Startup_ja	Startups
/r/yoronchosa	Public opinion polls

Science

/r/science_jp

Science

Jobs

/r/mushoku_jp

Unemployed Japan

The Arts

/r/bijutsu

Fine arts

Questions

/r/AskReddit_ja	Ask reddit!
/r/IAmA_ja	IAmA(Japan) – Professionals answer questions

Hobbies

/r/airsoft_jp	Airsoft
/r/AnimeFigures_ja	Anime figures
/r/Aquariums_ja	Aquariums
/r/craft_ja	Crafts
/r/darts_ja	Darts
/r/dolls_ja	Dolls
/r/engei	Gardening
/r/GuitarBass_JA	Guitar and Bass
/r/keiba	Horse racing
/r/knives_ja	Knives
/r/MILITARY_JP	Army/Millitary
/r/motorcycle_ja	Motorbikes
/r/nuigurumi	Teddies
/r/occult_ja	Occult
/r/oogiri	Oogiri
/r/pachinko_slot	Pachinko and slot machines
/r/petdaisuki	Pet lovers
/r/Photograph_ja	Photography
/r/plasticmodel_ja	Plastic models
/r/ruins_jp	Ruins
/r/shogiR	Shogi (Japanese chess)
/r/tobacco_ja	Smoking
/r/toys_ja	Toys
/r/UnusualSurvival_ja	Survival

Other

/r/daimajin	Daimajin
/r/Fuee	Fuee
/r/kusosure	A poop thread?!
/r/lowlevelaware	Low level aware
/r/ryuseigai	The back of leaflets
/r/ryuuseigai_ja	It’s ryuuseigai!
/r/sayjaaaaaaap	Say Jaaaaaaap

 

/r/todayilearned_jp

Today I Learned

Chatting

/r/ahotalk	Idiot talk
/r/BackOfLeaflet_ja	Back Of Leaflet
/r/BakaNewsJP	Baka news
/r/bzvermillion	B’z
/r/complaint_jp	Complaining
/r/darenruisu	darenruisu
/r/futuu	Normal
/r/Giron	Discussion
/r/guchi	Moaning
/r/kansou_jp	Reactions
/r/nsrsurvey_jp	Surveys
/r/rakugakicho	Sketchbook
/r/zatsudan	Chatting

Music

/r/BABYMETAL_japan	Baby Metal
/r/denpasong	Denpa song
/r/METAL_jp	Metal
/r/musicmakers_ja	Making music
/r/ongakur	All types of music
/r/progre_jp	Progressive
/r/singing_ja	Singing
/r/VOCALOID_UTAU_jp	Vocaloid

Food and Drink

/r/cooking_ja	Cooking
/r/CupNoodles_ja	Cup noodles
/r/drpepper_ja	Dr pepper
/r/drunk_ja	Alcohol
/r/FastFood_ja	Fast food
/r/FoodPorn_ja	Food porn
/r/garigarikun	Crunching-kun
/r/Geko_jp	Subreddit for people who don’t drink
/r/kinoko_jp	Mushrooms
/r/lowpricegourmet_tokyo	Low price food in Tokyo
/r/nikujaga	Meat and potato stew
/r/okashi_ja	Sweets
/r/okome	Rice

All in all I think there could be some gems in here that will be very useful to some of you. I haven’t checked all the threads myself though so if any are inactive or have content that isn’t appropriate then please tell me and I will remove them from this list. 

Hopefully you found this post useful and as always,

Thanks for reading!