About NihongoBooks — NihongoBooks

Why this site exists

There are too many Japanese textbooks, and too much conflicting advice about them. Ask which N2 books to buy and you will get five confident, incompatible answers — most of them from sites ranking books nobody there has ever opened, assembled from publisher blurbs and each other's listicles.

NihongoBooks is an editorial project for English-speaking learners of Japanese that starts from the opposite premise: read the books, verify the facts, and say plainly which ones to skip. It is written and maintained by one person. The “we” you will see around the site is editorial habit, not a team of experts — and the methodology page is honest about exactly how well we know each book.

What this site is not

Not affiliated with the JLPT, the Japan Foundation, or Japan Educational Exchanges and Services
Not a publisher partner — no publisher sees a review before you do
No sponsored reviews, no paid placements, no “featured” slots

How this site makes money

Some outbound bookstore links are affiliate links: if you buy a book after clicking one, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. That is the whole business model. Commissions never decide what gets recommended — we routinely tell readers not to buy books at all. The details are in the affiliate disclosure.

Contact

Corrections, questions, and disagreements about verdicts are all welcome:hello@nihongobooks.com.

Last updated August 2026.