Everyone likes watching TV, but it’s usually considered a mindless, lazy activity. However, you can turn your anime binge sessions into learning sessions, it just takes a bit of time and some useful tools. TV is a great source of language input because you get visual and audio feedback at the same time. It’s even better when you add Japanese subtitles into the equation. When you first start watching Japanese TV, have the Japanese and English subtitles on simultaneously with a program like Trancy or Animelon. This will allow you to get familiar with Japanese subtitles while still having English support. Once you get to an intermediate level, it’s time to turn off the English subtitles. This is a big leap, but if you don’t turn off the English subtitles, you will use them as a crutch. When you’re ready to start turning off the English subtitles, I recommend starting with Japanese dramas and live-action movies, since they are significantly easier to understand than anime. First, watch the show with dual subtitles, then watch it with Japanese subtitles, and then watch it one more time with no subtitles. The repetition of watching a show over and over will help vocabulary and grammar stick. As you get more advanced, you may skip the first step of watching the show with dual subtitles and go straight to watching it with Japanese subtitles.
Netflix – Premium
Netflix is the best streaming platform for learning Japanese. It has a vast library and with an extension like Trancy it is easy to add dual subtitles with a pop-up dictionary. If you have a VPN, you can also access Japanese Netflix, which has lots of Japanese dramas and anime, all with Japanese subtitles. Cardcaptor Sakura and Terrace House are good shows to start with on Netflix!
Viki – Freemium
Viki has a large library of Japanese dramas that are free with ads, many of which come with Japanese subtitles. Unfortunately, Viki has no dual subtitle or pop-up dictionary capabilities, so you’ll have to switch between subtitles if you can’t understand something, or you can use a website like DownSub to download the subtitles as a text file.
Crunchyroll – Freemium
Crunchyroll is a free with adds streaming service for anime. It doesn’t provide Japanese subtitles locally, but you can add your own via Substital. Substital doesn’t offer a pop-up dictionary, but the subtitles are copy-able, so you can copy them into a dictionary or use them to make flashcards.
Animelon
Animelon is a website created for Japanese learners with dual subtitle capabilities, a pop-up dictionary, and copy-able subtitles for making flashcards.
Bilibili
Bililibi has lots of Japanese variety shows available to watch for free! The website itself is in Chinese, but it’s easy enough to navigate, and you can just search for your Japanese variety show of choice to find what you’d like to watch. I’ve included links to two different shows below that you can use as a starting point to help you find more!
Requires a VPN
TVer
TVer has lots of free dramas and variety shows many of which are exclusive to Japan! When you create an account it will ask you for your birthday, gender, and postal code. You can use any Japanese postal code, for example, I used the postal code 113-0032, which is for a random neighborhood in Tokyo. To access the browser version, connect to Japan via your VPN, then open the website. To use the app, you need to create a Japanese App Store account.
ABEMA – Freemium
Abema is a streaming site with lots of Japanese TV shows, however, it can be a bit finicky at times with videos not loading properly, so you may or may not have a good experience with it. To access the browser version, connect to Japan via your VPN, then open the website. To use the app, you need to create a Japanese App Store account.
Hulu JP – Premium
Hulu JP is only available via VPN, but for ~$7 a month, you can access many Japanese shows that are not otherwise available outside Japan. To access the browser version, connect to Japan via your VPN, then open the website. To use the app, you need to create a Japanese App Store account.
