“Learn Japanese with manga” and “How to learn Japanese with manga” are extremely popular searches on Google. And there are websites that give you a framework of how to do it or websites, like ours, that gives you a vocabulary and breakdown of phrases and grammar. We put together a list of books that use manga to teach you Japanese.

Learn Japanese with Manga A Self-Study Language Book for Beginners

https://amzn.to/3InAO3p

This book is perfect for absolute beginners, as one does not require any prior knowledge of Japanese to use this book for studying. It starts by going through all Japanese writing systems and then slowly dives into new vocabulary, and grammar and also teaches you over 100 kanji! This book can stand on its own as a study book since it has numerous exercises and free online resources including audio content. The book uses a storytelling method to build your vocabulary with the “Rakujō” manga. Published only in the fall of 2022, it does not have many reviews. However, we do highly recommend it for absolute beginners who really want to get started but do not know from where! It also has a kindle edition and volume 2.

Japanese the Manga Way: An Illustrated Guide to Grammar and Structure

https://amzn.to/3CNCFen

Published in 2004, this book definitely had been a new approach to learning the Japanese language. Can it be used by first-time learners? Sure, it has a romanji writing under each Japanese word. However, we do not recommend picking this book up as your first Japanese textbook. The book’s purpose is to deliver Japanese grammar to you in a simplified manner. It introduces a concept/a grammar point and then gives an example from real mangas to support the understanding. It covers grammar from JLPT N5 and N4 levels for the most part. We recommend this book for those who’ve been watching anime and picking up words or have been learning vocabulary for a while and are now ready to learn how to put those words into a sentence.

Kanji de Manga: The Comic Book That Teaches You How To Read And Write Japanese!: 01

https://amzn.to/3GGZWkc

We have previously mentioned this book in our post “Best Books for Learning Kanji” as an alternative approach to learning kanji. The book itself is very small. Volume 1 features 80 kanji with original manga, pronunciation and explanation. There are also 40 grid pages to practice your kanji writing. There are 6 volumes in total. We think this book is great for manga readers who are ready to start learning kanji step by step.

Kana de Manga Special Edition: Japanese Sound FX! (Kanji de Manga)

https://amzn.to/3WT8Twz

Here you have it! 3 books that teach you Japanese in a non-traditional easy and quick way through manga! To summarise: