Learn Japanese with Yokai! Volume 2: The Tengu

Japan is full of strange creatures, and this series is a way to meet them in their own language.
This second volume is about the tengu, the long-nosed mountain spirit dressed as a wandering monk. He turns up on festival masks, in the phrase for someone who has grown too proud of himself, and in a thousand years of stories about what happens to people who walk too far into the mountains.
There are three readings. The first introduces the creature itself: what a tengu looks like, where he lives, and the powers he is said to have. The second asks where he came from, and works through several theories, one of which may surprise you. The third is a set of tengu tales from Kyoto, Ehime, and a mountain on the edge of Tokyo.
Each story is taught in seven passes, so your understanding builds one layer at a time:Story introduction: a short English preview so you know where you're headedVocabulary: key words in Japanese, then English, with room to repeat after a native speakerSlow speed: the full story read slowly and clearlyLine-by-line: each sentence broken into short phrases with English meanings, then rebuiltNormal speed: the story at natural pace, to hear how much more you catch nowComprehension questions: answer out loud, then hear a model answerEnglish version: the whole story in English to confirm you understood it
Japanese narration by native speaker Yumi Boutwell, with English explanations by Clay Boutwell. Learn Japanese with Stories has been helping people learn Japanese since 2002.
No textbook needed: press play in the car or on a walk and let the repetition do the work. For upper beginners (JLPT N5 to N4) ready to move past word lists into real Japanese. Includes a companion PDF with the Japanese text and vocabulary.