坊っちゃん
🇯🇵 Japanese graded reader
坊っちゃん
Botchan
A hot-headed young teacher from Tokyo lands in a country school full of pranksters, flatterers, and a smooth schemer in a red shirt, and he can't keep his mouth shut. Natsume Sōseki's beloved comic novel, retold in fresh Japanese that rises from A2 to B1: grasshoppers in the bed, four bowls of tempura noodles, a war of nicknames, and one old servant's unshakable faith in him.
Chapters
- 第一章 無鉄砲read online
- 第二章 清と六百円Chapter 2: Kiyo and Six Hundred Yen
- 第三章 四国へChapter 3: To Shikoku
- 第四章 小さな町Chapter 4: A Small Town
- 第五章 あだ名Chapter 5: Nicknames
- 第六章 天ぷら先生Chapter 6: Tempura Teacher
- 第七章 宿直とバッタChapter 7: Night Duty and the Grasshoppers
- 第八章 二階の足音Chapter 8: Footsteps Upstairs
- 第九章 ターナー島Chapter 9: Turner Island
- 第十章 一銭五厘Chapter 10: One Sen Five Rin
- 第十一章 萩野のおばあさんChapter 11: Old Mrs. Hagino
- 第十二章 清の手紙Chapter 12: Kiyo's Letter
- 第十三章 月給の話Chapter 13: The Talk of a Raise
- 第十四章 送別会Chapter 14: The Farewell Party
- 第十五章 祝勝会Chapter 15: The Victory Celebration
- 第十六章 新聞と辞表Chapter 16: The Newspaper and the Resignation
- 第十七章 卵Chapter 17: Eggs
- 第十八章 清Chapter 18: Kiyo
What level is Botchan in Japanese?
It starts at A2 and climbs gradually to B1. Each chapter introduces a little new vocabulary, so you're always reading just above your comfort zone.
How long is it?
18 chapters and about 4,100 words in total, using roughly 850 different word forms.
Is it free?
It's part of ReadNative Pro. The first chapter is free to read here. The first book in every language is free.
Does it have audio?
Not yet. You can read it with tap-to-translate and sentence translations; narration is currently available on the Chinese books.
More Japanese books
More Japanese reading: Learn Japanese by reading · Japanese graded readers · Japanese short stories
New to Japanese? Start with how ReadNative teaches Japanese or our guide How to learn Japanese by reading.