Japanese study blog

Guides for learning Japanese, drawn from the lessons

Grammar, kana, JLPT and reading advice — each one illustrated with a scene from the courses and ending in the lesson that teaches it.

Seen over your shoulder, the interior of Komorebi House café reveals Ren behind the counter and Aki standing nearby. The room is warmly lit, and they are both looking towards you.
Sep 7, 20268 min read

How to Start Learning Japanese (A Realistic First Month)

A week-by-week plan for your first month of Japanese: what to learn first, what to skip, and how much time it actually takes.

Read post
Illustration of the staff board at Komorebi House: Aki Mori. The staff board carries a row of small magnets, one particle each. Mugi has knocked two of them onto the floor and the sentence above now means something no one intended.
GrammarN57 min

は vs が: The Explanation That Finally Sticks

Why は and が are not interchangeable, explained through sentences rather than rules — plus the three situations where only one of them works.

Illustration of Komorebi House café: Ren Nakamura and Aki Mori. Closing time at Komorebi. Ren has lined five paper cards along the counter and is squinting at them like a man reading a map upside down.
KanaBeginner6 min

Learn Hiragana and Katakana Without the Flashcard Grind

A faster route through both kana scripts: read real signs, menus and prices from day one instead of memorising a 46-cell chart.

Illustration of Komorebi House café: Maya Torres and Aki Mori and Ren Nakamura. Maya adds the learner to the Open Day group chat.
JLPTN59 min

JLPT N5: What's Actually on the Exam and How to Prepare

The real N5 requirements — vocabulary, kanji, grammar and listening — with a study plan sized to the time you have before the test.

Illustration of Komorebi House café: Fumiko Sato. Sato asks for three things in one breath — take this, print that, come back by four — and the three requests arrive joined together.
GrammarVerbs7 min

The て-form: One Rule Set, a Dozen Uses

How to form て from every verb group and the sentence patterns it unlocks — requests, continuous actions, permission and linking.

Illustration of Mizuhana station's west exit: Maya, Ren and Aki stand at the gates naming three different destinations, with arrow signs to the park and the shop behind them.
ReadingMethod7 min

How to Read Japanese Before You're Ready

Comprehensible input for Japanese in practice: choosing material at the right level, how much to look up, and why rereading beats reading more.

Read the lessons these posts come from

Every scene above belongs to an illustrated Japanese lesson. Lesson one of each track is free to read, no account needed.