Learn Japanese with Yokai! Volume 3: The Oni

Japan is full of strange creatures, and this series is a way to meet them in their own language.
This third volume is about the oni: horns on his head, a huge body, an iron club in his hand, and a great fondness for sake. Japanese children know him before they can read. He is the one who is "it" in a game of tag, and a harsh, cold person is said to be "like an oni." But the oni turns out to be far more complicated than a monster.
There are three readings. The first introduces the creature himself: what an oni looks like, why some are blue, some red and some black, and the most famous oni in Japan, Shuten-dōji, a sake-loving giant on Mount Ōe near Kyoto. The second is a surprise: people in Japan today who say they are descended from oni. The third is a New Year's Eve festival on the Oga Peninsula in Akita, where figures in straw coats and fierce masks still go from house to house calling for crying children.
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.