Children's texts

• Issunboushi^[1]
• The Tongue-Cut Sparrow
• Kasa Jizo
• Cracking Mountain
• The Crab and The Monkey
• Momotaro
• Urashimataro
• Yamamba
• Tanabata
• Aesop's Fables - The North Wind and the Sun (イソップ童話: 北風と太陽)
• Pocket Watch (懐中時計)

Simple texts

• 夢十夜 (w:Ten Nights of Dreams by w:Natsume Sōseki)^[2]
  • 第三夜 (The third night)
  • 第七夜 (The seventh night))
• Aesop's fables translated and read

Advanced texts

• Under the Cherry Trees (桜の樹の下には)
• Run, Melos! (走れメロス)
• Be not Defeated by the Rain (雨ニモマケズ)
• The Restaurant that Has Many Orders (注文の多い料理店)
• Night on the Galactic Railroad (銀河鉄道の夜)
• I Am a Cat (吾輩は猫である)
• Rails (線路)
• Bring into focus (焦点を合せる)
• Girl's Hell (少女地獄)

Other texts

• Japanese Wikipedia
• Soseki's Merits and Demerits of isms
• Soseki's Botchan
• Japanese Text Initiative Fully searchable premodern texts with English or Japanese interface
• Aozora Bunko Texts whose copyright has expired
• Noh Plays

Rakugo

• ...

Philosophy/Political science

• 貝原益軒 (Kaibara Ekiken, 1630-1714)
  • 養生訓 (Yōjōkun: Precepts for the preservation of health)
  • 和俗童子訓 (Wazoku dōjikun: Precepts for Japanese common children)
• 山本常朝 (Yamamoto Jōchō, 1659-1719)
  • 葉隠 (Hagakure: Hidden by the Leaves) - The book of Samurai in Saga Domain
• 福沢諭吉 (Yukichi Fukuzawa, 1835-1901)
  • 学問のすすめ (Encouragement of Learning)
• 五来欣造 (Gorai Kinzō, 1875-1944)
  • 儒教の独逸政治思想に及ぼせる影響 (How did confucianism affect to German political philosophy)
  • ファッショか共産主義か (Fascism or Communism)

Memoirs

• 久保田栄吉 (Ōkubo Ēkichi, 1887-)
  • 赤露二年の獄中生活 (Prison Life in Red Russia for two years)

Old Songs

• Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms (さくら さくら) さくら　さくら　やよいの空は
• Soap Bubbles (シャボン玉) シャボン玉飛んだ 屋根まで飛んだ
• The Red Shoes (赤い靴)　赤い靴　はいてた　女の子
• 10,000 Feet up the Alps (アルプス一万尺)　アルプス一万尺　小槍の上で
• The glow of a firefly (蛍の光) 蛍の光 窓の雪
• The Gondola Song (ゴンドラの唄) いのち短し、恋せよ乙女
• Katyusha's song (カチューシャの唄) カチューシャかわいや わかれのつらさ
• The Boatman Ballad (船頭小唄) おれは河原の 枯すすき

Warabe Uta

• Kagome Kagome (かごめ　かごめ) かごめかごめ 籠の中の鳥は
• Hana Ichi Monme (はないちもんめ) 勝ってうれしい花いちもんめ、負けて悔しい花いちもんめ
• Tōryanse (通りゃんせ)　通りゃんせ　通りゃんせ　ここはどこの　細通じゃ
• ずいずいずっころばし ずいずいずっころばし ごまみそずい
• Where are you from? (あんたがたどこさ) あんたがたどこさ 肥後さ 肥後どこさ 熊本さ
• Snow (雪) 雪やこんこ 霰やこんこ。

Old Japanese texts

• The Pillow Book (枕草子) - 春はあけぼの
• Tsurezuregusa (徒然草) - つれづれなるままに
• The Tale of the Heike (平家物語) - 祇園精舎の鐘の声 諸行無常の響きあり
• Matsuo Basho's Haiku
• The Tosa Diary (土佐日記) - 男もすなる日記といふものを、女もしてみむとてするなり。

Old Japanese texts written in Classical Chinese

• Manyoshu (万葉集)

Transcription of Classical Chinese into Japanese

Classical Chinese was communication language between Japan, Korea, China and Vietnam until WWII.

• Shunbou (春望) - 国破れて山河在り (国破_レテ山河在_リ)
• Shungyou (春暁) - 春眠暁を覚えず (春眠不_ず^レ覺_エ^レ曉_ヲ)

Weird Books

• native Japanese reading with annotations of Water Margin (標註訓訳　水滸伝　一) - Transcription of Written Vernacular Chinese into Japanese
• Mix-up Secret plan (混同秘策) - agricultural book for world domination plan written in Sakoku period

Travel guide

• South Manchu travel guide, 1917 (南満洲鉄道旅行案内)
• Taiwan train travel guide, 1927 (台湾鉄道旅行案内)
• America travel guide, 1927 (米国旅行案内)
• Sakhalin train travel guide, 1928 (樺太の鉄道旅行案内)
• Korea travel guide, 1934 (朝鮮旅行案内記)
• The Trans-Siberian Express - Shortest route from the Far East to Europe, 1933 (欧州旅行の最短距離 シベリヤ急行鉄道)

References