Read two of Japan's most beloved folktales, broken down sentence by sentence for upper-beginner learners.
A mouse couple sets out to find the world's most powerful husband for their daughter, visiting the sun, the cloud, the wind, and the wall — only to discover that strength can hide in very small places. A boy-monk named Ikkyū is summoned by the shogun and asked to capture a tiger from a folding-screen painting; with a length of rope and a headband, the small monk turns the impossible task back on the shogun himself.
The Mouse Bride and Ikkyū-san are two pillars of Japanese childhood culture — and Ikkyū, the real Zen monk born in 1394, has been beloved across six centuries for his quick wit. This volume gives you the language to read both stories in Japanese, with line-by-line vocabulary, grammar notes, native-speaker audio, and a simple English translation for self-checking.
New in the 2026 edition:
Bonus unlock code inside the book — redeem at Makoto+ to study every sentence from this book interactively, on the web or in the mobile app
New watercolor illustration and audio QR codes on every story's opening page
Hook teaser and Before-You-Read intro for each story, pointing you toward the grammar and vocabulary patterns to watch for
Full Exercises sections with answer keys (Comprehension Questions, Particle Fill-in, Grammar Pattern Hunt, Translation Comparison) for both stories
Resized furigana — ruby now sits closer to the base text, the way good Japanese typography should
Running headers, page numbers, and sumi-e section ornaments throughout
The two stories:
1. The Mouse Bride — A mouse father and mother have a beautiful daughter named Chūko, and when she comes of age they decide that nothing less than the greatest husband in the world will do. Their search follows a winding chain of humility — sun bows to cloud, cloud bows to wind, wind bows to wall — until the chain loops back to a place they never thought to look.
2. Ikkyū-san — The shogun has a folding screen painted with a fierce tiger that, he insists, comes alive at night and prowls the palace. He summons the famously clever boy-monk Ikkyū to bind it. Armed with a length of rope and a headband, the small monk takes his place before the screen — and proceeds to send the shogun's challenge right back to him with the kind of polite logic that no samurai sword can answer.
What's inside:
Each story presented three ways: with line-by-line vocabulary, in plain Japanese (for unscaffolded reading practice), and in English summary
Word-by-word breakdowns with furigana over every kanji
Grammar spotlights, cultural notes, and reading tips throughout
Free MP3 audio downloads — natural speed and slowed down — recorded by a native speaker
Free Anki decks for pre-study
Bonus unlock code for Makoto+ Sentence Explorer
No sign-up required for the audio
Who this is for: Upper-beginner to lower-intermediate learners. You'll need solid kana and a working sense of basic grammar. (New to hiragana? Take our free two-week crash course at TheJapanesePage.com/hiragana.)
Questions or requests for future readers? The authors' personal email addresses are inside the book.
