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新聞しんぶんJLPT N4 edition · Elementary

Easy Japanese News for JLPT N4 (with furigana)

Upper-beginner news that reinforces the ~1,500 words and everyday grammar you meet around JLPT N4. Every story is an original Japanese adaptation of real news, free to read, with an English summary and tap-to-look-up in the Yomimaru app.

Updated dailyLast updated Aug 31, 202621 recent stories

N4 spotlight· ED.239

米韓演習が短縮終了 北朝鮮は冷たい反応を続ける

Trump Slashes Drills With Seoul, Pyongyang Answers With Missiles and Mockery

Annual US-South Korea drills ended days early on Trump's order, while North Korea launched missiles and ridiculed Seoul.

N4N3N1Read
Colombia Quake Death Toll Reaches 289 as Economic Losses Mount cover Colombia Quake Death Toll Reaches 289 as Economic Losses Mountコロンビア地震 死者289人に 負傷者4100人超 経済損失1兆5000億円余り Indonesia Quake Death Toll Rises to 68; Vanuatu Volcano Erupts With No Tsunami Threat to Japan cover Indonesia Quake Death Toll Rises to 68; Vanuatu Volcano Erupts With No Tsunami Threat to Japanインドネシア東部地震 死者68人に増加 バヌアツの火山噴火は津波影響なし
Read at your level

Every Yominews story is adapted to each level. Pick yours.

気になるきになる

Curiosity

The surprising, the delightful, the only-in-Japan.

The Taiwanese Temple Where Hell Is an Animatronic Ride cover
The Taiwanese Temple Where Hell Is an Animatronic Ride電動ジオラマの地獄がある台湾の寺、麻豆代天府
A Taoist temple in Taiwan hides a giant dragon, an over-the-top animatronic hell, and a record-breaking tower of lights.
Aug 27
日本のくらしにほんのくらし

Life & Culture

How Japan actually works, day to day.

Why Wind Chime Sounds Make Summer Feel Cooler in Japan cover
Why Wind Chime Sounds Make Summer Feel Cooler in Japan風鈴の音はなぜ涼しい？江戸風鈴と南部鉄器の魅力
A glass wind chime's ring can make hot air feel cooler—here is the cultural logic behind the summer sound.
Aug 27
選り抜きよりぬき

Staff picks

Record Rain in Chiba Kills 8, Triggers Japan's First Level 5 Alert千葉県で記録的大雨 8人死亡 特別警報も
Unprecedented rainfall in Chiba Prefecture has left eight dead and prompted the nation's first-ever highest-level special warning.
Aug 15
 Russia and Ukraine Trade Strikes on Capitals cover
Russia and Ukraine Trade Strikes on Capitalsロシアとウクライナ、首都への攻撃が続く
Overnight drone attacks on Moscow and a strike on a Kyiv book market show the conflict's unrelenting toll.
Aug 17
 Indonesia's M7.7 Earthquake Kills 51; Tsunami Recorded cover
Indonesia's M7.7 Earthquake Kills 51; Tsunami Recordedインドネシア東部でM7.7の地震 死者51人に 津波観測と避難続く
A major quake off Flores Island triggered tsunami evacuations, and the death toll has risen to at least 51 with hundreds injured.
Aug 16
 Colombia Earthquake: Over 254 Dead, 13,000 Homes Destroyed cover
Colombia Earthquake: Over 254 Dead, 13,000 Homes DestroyedコロンビアでM7.4の大地震 死者254人超 1万3000超の住宅が壊れる
A powerful 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck western Colombia, killing more than 254 people and destroying over 13,000 homes.
Aug 15
今週こんしゅう

Earlier this week

Trump Opens 'Unprecedented Economic War' on Iran as Hormuz Tensions Rise米、イランに「前例のない経済戦争」 制裁強化とホルムズ海峡の緊張
Trump declares unprecedented economic war on Iran, tightens sanctions, and claims Hormuz mines are cleared amid sharp warnings.
Aug 26
天気てんき

Weather

Typhoon No. 15 Makes Historic Landfall in Ibaraki, Rain Threat Persists台風15号 茨城県に上陸 熱帯低気圧に変わっても大雨に警戒を
For the first time since 1951, a typhoon hits Ibaraki Prefecture. Though it weakened, heavy rain warnings remain across eastern and western Japan.
Aug 17
先月せんげつ

From the archive

Browse the full easy Japanese news archive

質問しつもん

Questions & answers

What does JLPT N4 Japanese news look like?

N4 stories stay inside the roughly 1,500-word vocabulary and everyday grammar of upper-beginner Japanese (plain past, て-form connections, simple conditionals), with furigana above every kanji. It is real news, simplified honestly rather than dumbed down: the facts match the original reporting.

Can I read the same story at an easier or harder level than N4?

Yes. Every Yominews story is one page carrying all of its published JLPT levels. Open any article and switch levels with the tabs at the top; the story stays the same, only the Japanese adapts.

Is Yominews free? Do I need an account?

Reading is completely free with no account required. A free Yomimaru account adds tap-to-look-up dictionary entries, grammar explanations from Tomo-Sensei, your built-in tutor, and saving words to your own study deck.

How often is new N4 content published?

Yominews publishes an original adaptation whenever a story is genuinely leading the Japanese news agenda — several a week rather than a fixed daily quota. The newest stories appear in the spotlight at the top; older ones move down into the weekly sections and the archive.