Japanese Reader Collection Volume 3: The Inch-High Samurai - Paperback

by Yumi Boutwell (Author), Clay Boutwell (Author)

Read two of Japan's most beloved folktales, broken down sentence by sentence for upper-beginner learners.

An inch-tall samurai who takes on an oni with a sewing needle for a sword. A luminous princess discovered inside a stalk of bamboo who turns out not to be of this world. The Inch-High Samurai and Kaguya Hime are two pillars of Japanese folklore - and Kaguya, in its original 10th-century form, is the oldest surviving work of Japanese prose narrative, older than The Tale of Genji by a century. This volume gives you the language to read them both 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 Inch-High Samurai - An old couple prays for a child and is given a tiny boy no taller than a pinky. When he comes of age, he sets off for the capital with a sewing needle for a sword, a rice bowl for a boat, and chopsticks for oars - and on the road home meets an oni who learns the hard way that bravery doesn't scale with size.

2. Kaguya Hime (Princess Kaguya) - An old bamboo cutter finds a glowing stalk in his grove and, inside it, a child no larger than his palm. Within months she has grown into the most beautiful young woman in Japan; emperors and princes vie for her hand. But Kaguya keeps looking up at the moon and weeping, because where she truly belongs isn't on this earth at all.

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.