新聞しんぶんJLPT N4 edition · Elementary

Easy Japanese News for JLPT N4 (with furigana)

Upper-beginner news that reinforces the ~1,500 words and everyday grammar you meet around JLPT N4. Every story is an original Japanese adaptation of real news, free to read, with an English summary and tap-to-look-up in the Yomimaru app.

Updated daily·Last updated Aug 23, 2026·27 recent stories

N4 spotlight· ED.229

ロシアとウクライナ、首都への攻撃が続く

Russia and Ukraine Trade Strikes on Capitals

Overnight drone attacks on Moscow and a strike on a Kyiv book market show the conflict's unrelenting toll.

N4Read →

Typhoon No. 15 Makes Historic Landfall in Ibaraki, Rain Threat Persists台風15号 茨城県に上陸 熱帯低気圧に変わっても大雨に警戒を Indonesia's M7.7 Earthquake Kills 51; Tsunami Recordedインドネシア東部でM7.7の地震 死者51人に 津波観測と避難続く

Every Yominews story is adapted to each level. Pick yours.

選り抜きよりぬき

Staff picks

Hiroshima Marks 81st Atomic Bombing Anniversary with Renewed Nuclear Abolition Pledge広島原爆の日 被爆81年 核廃絶への誓い新たに

At a record-setting peace ceremony, leaders and survivors in Hiroshima renew calls for a world without nuclear weapons.

Aug 7

14-year-old gunman leaves 9 dead in Thai school shootingタイ・ノンタブリー県の学校で14歳生徒が銃乱射、死者9人に

Police say the teen killed his grandparents before opening fire at school, and had searched online for similar attacks.

Aug 8

Kumamoto Quake: Grief and a Newborn's Cry in Yatsushiro熊本地震：八代市の被害と、地震の中で生まれた命

A magnitude 7.1 quake kills 36 in Kumamoto, including 20 in Yatsushiro, where a baby is born as the shaking stops.

Aug 7

Typhoon 13 Bears Down on Okinawa, Amami as Storm Intensifies台風13号、沖縄と奄美に接近中 暴風や大雨に厳重警戒

Okinawa and Amami brace for Typhoon 13's dangerous winds and torrential rain as storm strengthens.

Aug 7

今週こんしゅう

Earlier this week

Colombia Earthquake: Over 254 Dead, 13,000 Homes DestroyedコロンビアでM7.4の大地震 死者254人超 1万3000超の住宅が壊れる

A powerful 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck western Colombia, killing more than 254 people and destroying over 13,000 homes.

Aug 15

Record Rain in Chiba Kills 8, Triggers Japan's First Level 5 Alert千葉県で記録的大雨 8人死亡 特別警報も

Unprecedented rainfall in Chiba Prefecture has left eight dead and prompted the nation's first-ever highest-level special warning.

Aug 15

技術ぎじゅつ

Technology

Open-source Radeon drivers for Linux being ported to WindowsオープンソースRadeonドライバ「RADV」、Valveの支援でWindows移植へ前進 ～「CS2」の実動に成功も、プロプライエタリKMDの壁

Developers are working on porting Linux Radeon drivers to Windows.

Jul 30

• 01 New Benchmark 'mcpbench' Tests AI Models' Ability to Build MCP ServersAIモデルは最新仕様に対応できるか？「mcpbench」が明らかにした0%の衝撃
• 02 God's-Eye View of Hundreds of Autonomous Ships Building a Space Economy in 'The Space Project'数百隻の自律型宇宙船が生み出す驚きの宇宙経済シミュレーター「The Space Project」
• 03 Firefox Shortens Release Cycle from 4 Weeks to 2 Weeks Starting September 2026Firefoxが2週間ごとの更新へ 2026年9月から実験開始
• 04 Skeleton-Infused Hugging Pillow with Heartbeat Sounds Aims to Improve Sleep「骨格入り抱き枕」で快眠を！ワンダーフェスティバル2026夏で話題の新アイテム
• 05 Waymo May End Partnership with Uber Over Robotaxi LegislationWaymoがUberとの提携解消を検討　自動運転立法で対立深まる

社会しゃかい

Society

1 in 5 Cosmetic Procedure Recipients Show Dependency Risk, Study Finds美容施術経験者の5人に1人が依存リスク―SNSが影響か

A study of 1,614 Israeli women found 20% of those who had cosmetic procedures show addiction-like dependency, exceeding rates for gambling.

Jul 31

• 01 Europe threatens World Cup boycott over FIFA's $200B commercial planFIFA新会社計画に欧州がW杯ボイコット警告、サッカー界に深い亀裂
• 02 Moss Shows Brain-Like Electrical Waves, Scientists Discoverコケが脳のように電気信号を出す？ 科学者が発見した不思議な動き

科学かがく

Science

Study Finds Social Media Shoutouts from Famous Scholars Boost Researchers' Job HuntSNSが変える研究者の就活—著名学者の「シェア」が鍵に

A new experiment reveals that having a renowned scholar share your paper on X can significantly improve job prospects in academia.

Aug 1

• 01 How Ice Can Protect Plants from Freezing: The Surprising Science氷で植物を凍結から守る？ その意外な科学

災害さいがい

Disaster

Magnitude 7.1 Earthquake Hits Kumamoto, Widespread Damage, Many Trapped at AEON Mall熊本で震度7の地震、イオンモールで爆発 多数閉じ込め

A strong earthquake struck Kumamoto, causing fires, collapsed roads, and trapping people in a shopping mall.

Jul 28

• 01 Magnitude 7.1 Earthquake Hits Kumamoto, Shopping Mall Collapses with Many Trapped熊本でマグニチュード7.1の地震、ショッピングモール倒壊で多数が閉じ込められる

先月せんげつ

From the archive

• 01 Kamimura Gakuen Rallies Past Higashichiku for First Koshien Win in Two Years神村学園が東筑に逆転勝ち 2年ぶりの初戦突破
• 02 New Game Lets You Guess the Origins of the Met Museum's Artifactsメトロポリタン美術館の品の起源を当てる新ゲーム「アンソロピウム」
• 03 Artificial Enzyme Reverses Age-Related Protein Damage, Study Finds人工酵素「CMLase」が老化タンパク質損傷を修復　75歳が31歳レベルに
• 04 I Ate the Same Meal as NVIDIA's CEO at a Tokyo Izakaya時価総額世界一企業のCEOが食べた激安居酒屋メニューを体験！ 東京・神田「やきとん三吉」レポート
• 05 Evangelion Series Still Going Strong at Wonder Festival 2026 Summerエヴァンゲリオンシリーズ、ワンフェス2026夏で衰えぬ人気

Browse the full easy Japanese news archive →

質問しつもん

Questions & answers

What does JLPT N4 Japanese news look like?

N4 stories stay inside the roughly 1,500-word vocabulary and everyday grammar of upper-beginner Japanese (plain past, て-form connections, simple conditionals), with furigana above every kanji. It is real news, simplified honestly rather than dumbed down: the facts match the original reporting.

Can I read the same story at an easier or harder level than N4?

Yes. Every Yominews story is one page carrying all of its published JLPT levels. Open any article and switch levels with the tabs at the top; the story stays the same, only the Japanese adapts.

Is Yominews free? Do I need an account?

Reading is completely free with no account required. A free Yomimaru account adds tap-to-look-up dictionary entries, grammar explanations from Tomo-Sensei, your built-in tutor, and saving words to your own study deck.

How often is new N4 content published?

Yominews publishes an original adaptation whenever a story is genuinely leading the Japanese news agenda — several a week rather than a fixed daily quota. The newest stories appear in the spotlight at the top; older ones move down into the weekly sections and the archive.