Japanese language information resources

Consult these resources to better enjoy studying the Japanese language.

If you need help, please contact Ivana Niseteo, Liaison Librarian for English, French, French Programs (FASS), Global Humanities, Linguistics, and World Languages & Literatures at 778.782.6838 or iniseteo@sfu.ca or Ask a librarian.

Japanese books

If you want to find books in Japanese, search the SFU Library Catalogue.

  • Read real Japanese fiction: short stories by contemporary writers [print]
  • Exploring Japanese Literature: read Mishima, Tanizaki and Kawabata in the original [print]
  • My homestay family -- an easy read book [print]
  • A to Zen: a book of Japanese culture -- Introduces Japanese words from A to Z [print]

Public libraries, such as the Vancouver Public Library, usually have a larger selection of easy books, such as books for young readers.

Movies in Japanese at the Library

Videos and DVDs (feature and documentary films) in Japanese with English subtitles.

  • Twenty-five Films by Akira Kurosawa [DVD]
  • Akira [DVD]
  • Dodesukaden [DVD]
  • The hidden fortress [DVD]
  • Howl's Moving Castle [DVD]
  • Ikiru = To live [DVD]
  • The pillow book [DVD]
  • Porco Rosso [DVD]
  • Princess Mononoke [DVD]
  • Rash¯omon [DVD]
  • Seven samurai [DVD]
  • Shinj¯u ten no Amijima = Double suicide [DVD]
  • Spirited away [DVD]
  • Tsubaki Sanj¯ur¯o = Sanjuro [DVD]
  • T¯oky¯o monogatari = Tokyo story [DVD]
  • Ugetsu [DVD]
  • YojimboYojimbo [DVD]
  • Yume = Dreams [DVD]
  • Ghost in the shell. English dubbed version [DVD]
  • Metropolis [DVD]
  • Obachan's Garden [DVD or online]
  • Sleeping tigers: the Asahi baseball story [DVD or online]

Journals

Newspapers

  • News on Japan - Daily news on Japan - business news, economy, society, politics, technology (In English)
  • Japan Times - (in English)

Japanese Language Reference

Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

Writing

  • Kanji alive - From the University of Chicago. Searchable, web-based tool to help students read and write Japanese kanji. Does not require any Japanese fonts. See User's guide.
  • Comparison between hiragana and katakana
  • Chinese calligraphy: from pictograph to ideogram, the history of 214 essential Chinese/Japanese characters [print]
  • Remembering the Kanji: a complete course on how not to forget the meaning and writing of Japanese characters [print]

Pronunciation

Grammar

To find Japanese grammar books in the SFU library, browse search the Catalogue by Subject 'Japanese language--Grammar'.

Useful websites

Japanese fonts

Cuisine & Travel

History & Culture