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新聞しんぶんJLPT N5 edition · Beginner

Easy Japanese News for JLPT N5 (with furigana)

News for beginners in simple Japanese: short sentences, basic vocabulary, and furigana over the kanji. Yominews stories are original Japanese adaptations of credited reporting, written with AI assistance at several JLPT levels and reviewed by a person before they are published. Every story is free to read, with an English summary and tap-to-look-up in the Yomimaru app.

Updated dailyLast updated Oct 9, 202638 recent stories

Note

N5 stories are coming. Nothing is published at exactly N5 right now, so this page features this month’s stories at N4, the closest published level, one step harder. Every story is an original adaptation with furigana, and each article page carries level tabs so you can pick whichever published level reads best. New levels appear here automatically as they publish — or start from the latest edition.
Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games Organizers Apologize for Mistaken Rising Sun Flag Ban cover

N4 spotlight· ED.275

Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games Organizers Apologize for Mistaken Rising Sun Flag Ban

Asian Games organizers apologized after mistakenly posting signs banning the Rising Sun flag at a baseball game in Aichi.

N4N32 min readRead
Body Found at Landslide-Hit Kanagawa Apartment Following Typhoon 25 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games Open as Japan Celebrates Historic Gold in Marathon and Esports cover Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games Open as Japan Celebrates Historic Gold in Marathon and Esports

Read at your level

日本のくらしにほんのくらし

Life & Culture

How Japan actually works, day to day.

Pennies for Your Prayers: Why Japan's Five-Yen Coin Has a Hole in the Heart
Behind Japan's favorite shrine coin lies a clever wordplay on fate, tactile design, and post-war brass shortages.
Sep 30
気になるきになる

Curiosity

The surprising, the delightful, the only-in-Japan.

When an AI Refused to Drive a Real Car — And How Engineers Tricked It Back Behind the Wheel cover
When an AI Refused to Drive a Real Car — And How Engineers Tricked It Back Behind the Wheel
Given the keys to a real Toyota Corolla, advanced AI models panicked and refused to drive until engineers made one clever tweak.
Sep 30
選り抜きよりぬき

Staff picks

Typhoon 25 Ravages Eastern Japan as Cabinet Moves to Declare Extreme Severity Disaster cover
Typhoon 25 Ravages Eastern Japan as Cabinet Moves to Declare Extreme Severity Disaster
Following deadly floods across eastern Japan, the government moves to declare a disaster of extreme severity to help recovery.
Sep 25
 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games Marred by Empty Seats and Transport Blunders cover
Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games Marred by Empty Seats and Transport Blunders
Logistical chaos and sparse crowds at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games spark fierce backlash from international athletes and media.
Sep 25
Nepal Mudslide: Mental Health Support Urgently Needed for Orphans
Three weeks after Nepal's catastrophic mudslides, relief agencies rush to provide mental health support for thousands of traumatized children.
Sep 19
US Marks 25th Anniversary of 9/11 Attacks With Tributes Across Nation
Twenty-five years after the devastating 9/11 attacks, solemn memorials across America honor the victims amid changing generations and political tensions.
Sep 19
今週こんしゅう

Earlier this week

Sweet Safety: The Real Reason Japanese Inns Put Confections in Your Room cover
Sweet Safety: The Real Reason Japanese Inns Put Confections in Your Room
Those welcome sweets in Japanese hot spring inns are more than a tasty treat—they are a clever medical shield against bath-induced fainting.
Sep 26
 Can You Dig Out of Prison with a Spoon? Testing the Classic Movie Tropes cover
Can You Dig Out of Prison with a Spoon? Testing the Classic Movie Tropes
A Japanese writer tested the famous prison-break trope with a 184-yen concrete block and discovered the surprisingly exhausting math behind freedom.
Sep 25
 Why Japanese Trail Signs Warn Hikers Against Black Clothes in Autumn cover
Why Japanese Trail Signs Warn Hikers Against Black Clothes in Autumn
Trailing deep into Japan's autumn mountains? Wearing the wrong color could turn defensive hornets into dangerous adversaries.
Sep 25
Read what you love

Pick a topic to jump straight to it.

社会しゃかい

Society

How a Nine-Year-Old Blew $118,000 on YouTube Ads cover
How a Nine-Year-Old Blew $118,000 on YouTube Ads
A father trying to encourage his son's gaming channel accidentally triggered a six-figure advertising disaster.
Sep 17
文化ぶんか

Culture

Why Wind Chime Sounds Make Summer Feel Cooler in Japan cover
Why Wind Chime Sounds Make Summer Feel Cooler in Japan
A glass wind chime's ring can make hot air feel cooler—here is the cultural logic behind the summer sound.
Aug 27
環境かんきょう

Environment

Why Japan's Sweet Kinmokusei Scents Every Street at Once
Discover how a single tree variety imported centuries ago fills Japanese neighborhoods with an unforgettable autumn aroma overnight.
Sep 17
食しょく

Food

Giant Stew, Giant Diggers: How Yamagata Cooks 30,000 Bowls of Taro Stew cover
Giant Stew, Giant Diggers: How Yamagata Cooks 30,000 Bowls of Taro Stew
By a Yamagata riverbank, an excavator stirs a 6.5-meter cauldron of simmering taro soup for thirty thousand hungry guests.
Sep 16
国際こくさい

International

Civilian Casualties Feared in US Strikes as Trump Downplays Iran Conflict cover
Civilian Casualties Feared in US Strikes as Trump Downplays Iran Conflict
As civilian casualties mount from recent US strikes in Iran, President Donald Trump claims the conflict is merely a minor issue.
Sep 11
技術ぎじゅつ

Technology

One Machine, Two Temperatures: Japan's Hot-and-Cold Vending Machines cover
One Machine, Two Temperatures: Japan's Hot-and-Cold Vending Machines
Japan's vending machines dispense hot coffee and cold tea from a single unit—a simple efficiency most countries skip.
Sep 3
先月せんげつ

From the archive

Browse the full easy Japanese news archive

質問しつもん

Questions & answers

Can I really read Japanese news at JLPT N5?

Yes. Yominews rewrites real news into very simple Japanese, with short sentences, everyday vocabulary, and furigana readings over the kanji, so you can read actual news within your first months of study. Every story also carries a one-line English summary, so you always know what you are reading.

Why do stories on this page show a N4 badge?

Yominews has no N5 text yet, so this page shows the N4 text of each story, the nearest level written. Every story page has a tab for each level it was written at, so you can switch each article to whichever reads best for you, free.

Is Yominews free? Do I need an account?

Yominews is free to read, and you do not need an account. After a story or two, the page suggests a free Yomimaru account, which you can close to keep reading. The account is free too, and saves words for review.

How often is new N5 content published?

A story is published when there is news worth reading, several a week rather than on a fixed daily quota.

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