NHK News Web Easy (news.web.nhk/news/easy) rewrites current news in easy Japanese, with furigana over the kanji and audio you can listen to. Its entry page is now titled NHKやさしいことばニュース and, the first time, asks you to accept the usage terms and choose a regional broadcaster. To read it as a learner, take one story a day and give it about ten minutes: guess the topic from the headline, read once with furigana for the main idea, look up only the words that block you, check that you understood, then read it aloud with the audio and save three words. Below you can practise the whole routine on a short sample story.
Not affiliated: My Senpai has no connection with NHK. We use the name only to refer to its website. The sample story on this page was written by us; nothing here is copied from NHK.
In short
- One story, ten minutes, every day beats an hour once a week.
- Read twice: once with furigana for meaning, once aloud with the audio.
- Look up less: only the words that stop you understanding the story, and save three of them.
What is NHK News Web Easy?
It is a free website from NHK, Japan’s public broadcaster, that publishes short news stories rewritten in やさしい日本語 (easy Japanese). The stories are written for foreign residents and for elementary and junior high school students; Japanese teachers rewrite them together with NHK reporters. A 2012 research paper describes the service starting that year as a trial, and new stories appear most days.
- Furigana sit above the kanji, and a button hides them when you want to test yourself.
- Audio: you can listen to a story read aloud, which makes it shadowing material as well as reading.
- Word explanations: harder words come with short explanations, mostly in easy Japanese.
- Names: the site can colour-code names of people, places and organisations; its own help explains which colour means what. In the sample below, the place name is underlined in blue.
What level do you need?
NHK does not give a JLPT level, so treat this as a rule of thumb. If you can read hiragana and katakana and have finished N5 grammar, you can follow a story with furigana and a dictionary, slowly. Around N4 to N3, most stories read for the main idea on the first pass. The language is easier than normal news, but the topics are adult: weather warnings, prices, elections, science. Expect two or three unknown words per sentence at first; that is normal, and the routine below is built for it.
Try it: read a sample story in ten minutes
Sample story written by My Senpai
Written in the style of easy news sites. Yamakawa City is made up; this is practice text, not a news report.
駅で傘をが始まる
山川市では、雨の日に駅で傘をが。傘は駅のに置いてあって、だれでもで使うことができます。使った傘は、次の日までに市の中のどの駅にもいいです。市、去年は雨が降って、人がたくさんいました。市の人は「雨の日も出かけてほしいです」と話しています。
Tap an underlined word to see its reading and meaning.
Show the English
A service lending umbrellas at stations starts. In Yamakawa City, a service that lends umbrellas at stations on rainy days has started. The umbrellas are left at station entrances, and anyone can use them free of charge. You can return a used umbrella to any station in the city by the next day. According to the city, last year many people were stuck when it suddenly rained. A city official says, “We want people to go out without worrying on rainy days too.”
Your progress
Step 0 of 5 done.
Guess from the headline (1 minute)
Read only the headline. On the real site, look at the photo too. What do you think happened? Answer question 1 below before you read on.
Read once with furigana for the main idea (3 minutes)
Read the five sentences without stopping. Do not translate in your head; aim for who, what and where.
Look up only the words that block you (2 minutes)
Tap the underlined words you cannot guess. Skip the rest. Pick three to save for review.
Check that you understood (2 minutes)
Answer the questions below. Each answer shows the line it comes from.
Read it aloud, then without furigana (2 minutes)
Read the story aloud. On the real site, play the audio and read along with it. Then switch furigana off above and read once more.
Check yourself
The 10-minute routine for any easy news story
| Step | Time | What to do | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Guess | 1 min | Headline and photo only | A guess gives you something to check, so you read with a question in mind |
| 2. Read for gist | 3 min | All sentences once, furigana on, no dictionary | Most unknown words make sense from the rest of the story |
| 3. Look up | 2 min | Only words that block the meaning; save three | Looking up everything turns reading into dictionary work |
| 4. Check | 2 min | Say who, what and why in one sentence each | If you cannot, reread the sentence that answers it |
| 5. Read aloud | 2 min | With the audio, then once without furigana | Reading aloud catches words you skipped and trains the kanji you know |
News stories repeat the same patterns, so they get easier fast. Watch for によると (according to), と話しています (says), 〜ことになりました (it has been decided that) and 気をつけてください (please be careful). Once you know a dozen of these, every story has fewer surprises.
Common mistakes when reading easy news
- Reading the English first. You stop reading Japanese and start confirming a translation. Keep the English for the end.
- Looking up every word. Ten lookups in five sentences means the story is too hard today, or you are not guessing enough.
- Reading only the furigana. Read the story a second time with them hidden; our guide to what furigana is and when to turn it off shows how.
- Never reading aloud. The audio is half the value. Reading along with it is shadowing, and it fixes the rhythm of the words you just learned.
- Saving words and never reviewing them. Three words a day reviewed beats thirty words saved.
Where to read next
| Option | What you get | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| NHK News Web Easy | Short easy news stories with furigana, audio and word explanations | Free |
| Regular NHK News Web | Full news stories for adults; read the same topic after the easy story | Free |
| YoMoo (ours) | News in eight topics, each with an Easy version written by AI from the original and the Original one tap away, furigana and JLPT colours, one-tap meanings, saved words with review | Free app; on the phone apps 5 articles are free, then a short ad opens each new one. Optional ad-free subscription |
| Furigana reader in your browser | Paste any Japanese text and get furigana on every kanji | Free |
For a wider comparison, including graded readers and paid readers, see the best Japanese reading apps for beginners.
YoMoo is a Japanese reading app with furigana made by My Senpai. It has its own news stories; it does not show NHK’s.
Frequently asked questions
What is NHK News Web Easy?
NHK News Web Easy (NEWS WEB EASY) is a free website from Japan’s public broadcaster NHK that rewrites current news in easy Japanese. It is made for foreign residents and for elementary and junior high school students, with furigana on kanji, audio you can listen to and explanations of harder words. My Senpai is not affiliated with NHK.
What JLPT level do you need to read NHK News Web Easy?
NHK does not give a JLPT level. As a rule of thumb, learners who know hiragana and katakana and have finished N5 grammar can follow a story with furigana and a dictionary, and learners around N4 to N3 can read most stories for the main idea. Expect slow reading at first; that is normal.
How should a beginner read NHK News Web Easy?
Read one story a day in about ten minutes: guess the topic from the headline and photo, read once with furigana for the main idea, look up only the words that stop you understanding, check yourself with three questions (who, what, why), then read the story aloud along with the audio and save three words to review.
Should I turn off furigana on NHK News Web Easy?
Not at first. Read with furigana until you can follow a story, then read it a second time with furigana hidden for the kanji you already know. If you cannot read words you have looked up many times, the furigana are doing the work for you. Our guide to furigana explains how to wean yourself off them.
What should I read after NHK News Web Easy?
Move to the regular NHK News Web stories on the same topics, or to a reader that shows an easy and a full version of each article side by side. Reading the easy story first and the full story second lets you see how the same facts are written for adults.
Last reviewed November 3, 2026. Sources: the NHK News Web Easy site; Tofugu’s resource database entry for NHK News Web Easy; Study Japan’s page on easy Japanese news; a 2012 IPSJ paper on the easy news trial and a 2018 Journal of Natural Language Processing paper on the tools used to write it; a Nagoya International Center guide; learner reports in the WaniKani community. The sample story and its questions were written by My Senpai. NHK and NEWS WEB EASY are names of NHK, which is not connected with this page.