How to Read Japanese News: NHK News Web Easy & More Sites for Your Convenience
Last updated: January 8, 2026
Want to start reading Japanese news? Good call. Real news articles are one of the best ways to level up your Japanese studying, but here's the thing: jumping straight into Asahi Shimbun or Nikkei is probably going to make you want to throw your computer out the window. I've been there. You open up a Japanese news site, see a wall of kanji with zero furigana, and immediately question every life decision that led you to this moment. The trick is knowing where to start and having the right tools to actually make progress instead of just staring at your screen for 20 minutes trying to parse one sentence.
Why bother reading Japanese news
Before we get into the how, let me tell you why news articles are actually pretty awesome for learning Japanese.
First off, news writing uses a specific style called kijitai () that's super common in formal Japanese. Once you get used to this style, you can read everything from business emails to academic papers way more easily. The grammar patterns repeat constantly, which means you'll start recognizing structures without even trying.
News articles also cover current events in Japan, which means you're learning vocabulary that Japanese people are actually using right now. You'll pick up words related to politics, economics, technology, and culture that textbooks won't teach you until way later (if at all).
Plus, there's something genuinely satisfying about reading an entire article in Japanese and actually understanding what's happening in the world. Makes all those hours of studying feel worth it.
Start with NHK News Web Easy (Seriously)
If you're anywhere from beginner to intermediate level, NHK News Web Easy is going to be your best friend. This is a free service from Japan's national broadcasting corporation that rewrites real news stories in simplified Japanese.
The articles use basic vocabulary and grammar, include furigana above every kanji, and even have audio recordings so you can hear how everything's pronounced. They update the site daily with new stories, so you'll never run out of fresh content.
I'd say the reading level is probably around N4 to N3, which makes it perfect for learners who've gotten past the absolute beginner stage but aren't ready for full-speed native content yet. The sentences are shorter and clearer than standard news writing, but you're still reading actual news about real events.
Each article also includes a dictionary feature where you can click on words to see definitions in simple Japanese. Pretty cool for when you encounter something new.
The best part? You can compare the easy version with the regular NHK news version of the same story. This lets you see how the same information gets expressed at different difficulty levels, which is incredibly useful for understanding how Japanese works.
Moving beyond easy news
Once NHK News Web Easy starts feeling comfortable, you've got options for stepping up the difficulty.
- Regular NHK News is the natural next step. Same topics and writing style as the easy version, just without the training wheels. The sentences get longer and more complex, and they use a wider range of vocabulary and kanji.
- Yahoo Japan News is another solid choice because articles come from various sources with different writing styles and difficulty levels. You can find everything from entertainment gossip (Usually easier) to political analysis (Harder). The comment sections are also interesting for seeing how regular Japanese people write informally about current events.
- Mainichi Shimbun and Asahi Shimbun are major national newspapers with online editions. These are proper adult-level news sources that don't simplify anything. The language is formal, the vocabulary is extensive, and the articles assume you understand Japanese politics and culture. Challenging, but this is what actual Japanese adults read.
- Specialized News Sites covering topics you're interested in can be great too. If you're into technology, sites like ITmedia use lots of katakana loanwords that might be easier to recognize. Sports news tends to use more straightforward language than political coverage.
What about news video
Video news in Japanese is its own beast, but it's incredibly valuable for learning the language as it's actually spoken in formal contexts.
- NHK News 7 is the main evening news broadcast and uses clear, standard Japanese. The announcers speak at a reasonable pace with good pronunciation. You can find clips and full episodes online pretty easily.
- News podcasts like NHK's radio news are great because you can listen while doing other things. The lack of visual context makes it harder, but that forces you to really focus on the language.
- YouTube news channels from Japanese media companies often include subtitles in Japanese, which is perfect for learning. You can watch with subtitles, pause to look things up, and replay sections you didn't catch.
The vocabulary in video news overlaps heavily with written news, so studying both reinforces the same material from different angles. You'll hear the words you've been reading and read the words you've been hearing.
How to actually read an article (The process)
Here's how I approach reading Japanese news articles without spending three hours on 500 characters:
- Skim First Read the headline and first paragraph to get the general topic. Japanese news articles usually put the most important information up front, so you'll get the main point quickly. This gives you context that makes the rest easier to understand.
- Don't Look Up Every Word This is huge. If you stop to look up every single unknown word, you'll never finish anything and you'll hate the process. Look up words that appear multiple times or seem critical to understanding the main point. Let the less important stuff go.
- Focus on Comprehension, Not Perfection Your goal is understanding what happened, not translating every particle perfectly. Can you explain the main points of the article in English after reading? Then you succeeded. You don't need to understand every nuance on your first read-through.
- Read the Same Topics Repeatedly If you read five articles about the same news event, you'll see the same vocabulary and phrases over and over. This repetition is how you actually learn. Pick a topic you care about and read multiple sources covering it.
- Use the Audio When Available Many news sites include video or audio versions of articles. Listening while reading helps reinforce pronunciation and makes the whole experience feel more natural. You're training your ears and eyes at the same time.
Common patterns you’ll see everywhere
Japanese news writing loves certain grammar patterns and phrases. Once you recognize these, articles become way more readable:
- ~によると (ni yoru to) shows up constantly to cite sources: "According to the government..." or "Based on the police report..."
- ~ (to happyou shita) means "announced that" and appears in basically every news article ever written.
- ~とみられる (to mirareru) and ~とみられている (to mirarete iru) mean "it is believed that" or "it appears that" and show up when reporters are stating probable facts without complete certainty.
- Passive voice gets used way more in Japanese news than English news. Instead of "The police arrested the suspect," you'll see "The suspect was arrested by the police." Getting comfortable with passive constructions makes everything smoother.
- Formal verb endings like ~した (shita) for past tense and ~する (suru) for present/future are standard. News articles rarely use the polite ~ます (masu) form you learned as a beginner.
Building up your news reading toolkit
Reading Japanese news gets way easier when you have the right tools set up. Here's what actually helps:
Get a Good Pop-up Dictionary
You need something that lets you look up words instantly without breaking your flow. Browser extensions that show definitions when you hover over words are game-changers. Copying and pasting into Jisho every 10 seconds kills your momentum and makes reading feel like torture.
A solid dictionary tool should show you the reading, meaning, and ideally, some example sentences. The faster you can look things up, the more you'll actually read instead of giving up.
Use a Reading Assistant
Tools that can analyze text difficulty and highlight words by frequency level help you figure out which articles match your current ability. Some platforms will show you what percentage of words you already know in an article before you even start reading, which is super helpful for picking appropriate content.
Keep a Vocabulary List
When you encounter important words while reading news articles, save them somewhere. Whether that's a physical notebook, Anki deck, or a dedicated app doesn't matter as much as actually reviewing them later. News vocabulary tends to repeat across articles, so learning key terms pays off quickly.
Learning Japanese through news content
Want to learn Japanese using news as your primary material? Totally doable, but you need some strategy.
- Start with topics you already understand. If you follow international news in English, reading the Japanese coverage of the same events gives you built-in context. You already know what happened, so you're just learning how to express it in Japanese.
- Create themed vocabulary lists. If you read several articles about elections, make a list of all the politics-related terms. Then read more election coverage, and you'll keep seeing those words until they stick. This focused repetition beats random vocabulary study.
- Mix difficulty levels. Don't feel like you need to only read the hardest stuff you can barely understand. Some days, read easier articles to build confidence and fluency. Other days, challenge yourself with tougher pieces to expand your limits.
- Combine news reading with other learning methods. Watching news video broadcasts trains your listening while reading trains your eyes. Using both together accelerates your progress way faster than either alone.
Reading Japanese news becomes way more effective when you're actively using the language you encounter. Migaku's browser extension and app let you look up words instantly while reading actual news sites, and it automatically creates flashcards from the words you look up. Makes the whole immersion learning process way smoother. There's a 10-day free trial if you want to check it out.
News is more than just information
As a language learner, the news is a powerful ally to not just pick up standardized and formal language, but also a useful source to learn about the culture, realities, and trending topics. Imagine the situation of talking with a friend you just made, or a business acquaintance, talking about current events is an effective way to interact and exchange opinions and ideas! It's okay if you still haven't reached the level of speaking Japanese with natives yet. News is still a convenient source for language intake!
If you consume media in Japanese, and you understand at least some of the messages and sentences within that media, you will make progress. Period.
A good newspaper is a nation talking to itself!