The 12 Best Japanese Learning Podcasts (2026)

The intermediate companion to Teppei's wildly popular beginner podcast, Nihongo con Teppei takes the same winning formula — all-Japanese episodes on everyday topics — and dials up the complexity for learners who have outgrown the beginner version. Episodes run eight to eighteen minutes and feature more nuanced vocabulary, longer sentences, and topics that demand a broader range of comprehension skills.

Teppei's approach remains conversational and unscripted. He talks about food, flowers, cultural observations, travel experiences, and whatever else crosses his mind, giving listeners the kind of natural speech patterns that textbooks rarely capture. The show ran actively from 2018 through 2021 and amassed hundreds of episodes, creating an enormous library of intermediate-level listening material that remains just as useful today as when it was first recorded.

What sets Teppei apart from other Japanese podcasters is his own experience as a language learner. He studies English and Spanish himself, which gives him genuine insight into the frustration and joy of the acquisition process. That empathy shows in how he paces his speech — never artificially slow, but always clear enough that an intermediate listener can follow the thread. Rated 4.8 stars with 123 ratings, this is a proven resource for anyone ready to bridge the gap between structured lessons and full native-speed content.

The Miku Real Japanese Podcast lives up to its name by giving listeners the kind of Japanese you actually hear in real conversations, not the polished textbook variety. With over 200 episodes and a near-perfect 4.9-star rating from more than 300 reviews, it has built a dedicated following among intermediate and advanced learners. Host Miku covers a wide range of topics including cultural differences between Japan and other countries, travel experiences, regional life in Japan, and personal reflections -- always in natural, flowing Japanese. Episodes typically run 20 to 30 minutes, mixing solo segments with guest conversations that expose listeners to different speaking styles and accents. Miku has a gift for explaining difficult vocabulary using simpler synonyms without breaking the flow of conversation, which keeps the content accessible without dumbing it down. The podcast works particularly well for shadowing practice, and many listeners use it specifically for that purpose. Beyond the free episodes, Miku offers a transcript subscription service and grammar courses through her website for those who want to dig deeper into the material. Updated weekly, the show tackles topics that feel genuinely interesting rather than manufactured for learning purposes, covering everything from Japanese work culture to personal growth to philosophical observations about daily life.

Tomo is a Japanese teacher who has found the sweet spot between too easy and too hard. With 381 episodes organized by JLPT proficiency level from N5 through N1, this podcast lets you select exactly the difficulty you need on any given day. Feeling confident? Jump into an N1 episode. Need something more relaxing? Scroll back to N4. That flexibility makes it an unusually versatile resource.

As a trained teacher, Tomo has an instinct for calibrating her speech. She does not artificially slow down or over-enunciate, but she chooses her vocabulary and sentence structures with awareness of what each level can handle. The result feels like genuine conversation rather than a scripted lesson, even though the difficulty is carefully controlled. Topics range across daily life, culture, opinions, and seasonal themes, keeping the content varied enough to sustain long-term listening.

The show also features a charming Kids' Edition series where Tomo has natural conversations with a Japanese child, providing a different register and vocabulary set that many learners rarely encounter. Scripts are available through Ko-fi for anyone who wants to read along, and the 4.9-star rating from 124 reviews reflects a passionate listener base. Updated weekly with fresh episodes, this is the kind of podcast you can build a daily habit around regardless of your current level.

Noriko brings a unique combination of credentials to Japanese language podcasting. She is both a certified Japanese teacher and a Neurolanguage Coach, meaning her approach to content is informed by actual research into how the brain acquires language. With 742 episodes spread across multiple seasons, the show offers a structured progression that few podcasts match — Season 1 starts with slower speech and simpler topics, gradually accelerating until Season 3 features real-life dialogues, philosophy discussions, and advanced cultural content.

The variety of series within the podcast keeps things fresh over hundreds of hours. There is 'Noriko's Philosophy Playground' for deeper thinkers, 'Book Talk with Yuko' for reading enthusiasts, 'Coffee Break with Noriko' for lighter listening, and 'Japanese Brain-Friendly Coaching' for those interested in the science behind their study methods. This range means the show grows with its audience rather than plateauing at one difficulty level.

Noriko also runs a community called 'Japanese Together' that extends beyond the podcast into conversation clubs, book clubs, and newsletters. The semiweekly release schedule and 4.8-star rating reflect a dedicated creator who has been building this resource for years. For learners who want something more structured than pure immersion but more natural than a textbook course, this hits a productive middle ground.

IISAKU takes a different approach from most Japanese learner podcasts. Instead of focusing on daily life and casual conversation, this show dives into philosophy, self-improvement, and deeper cultural topics — all delivered in deliberately slow, clear Japanese with vocabulary lists provided for every episode. The result is a podcast that exercises your brain on two levels: you are simultaneously working on language comprehension and engaging with genuinely thought-provoking ideas.

With 183 episodes averaging seven to ten minutes each, the format is compact enough for daily study but substantial enough to leave you thinking about the content long after you press pause. IISAKU speaks at a measured pace and flags difficult vocabulary, but never makes the content feel dumbed down. The topics demand a wider range of abstract vocabulary than typical learner podcasts cover, which makes this an excellent complement to shows focused on everyday conversation.

Transcripts and bonus materials are available through Patreon, and the 4.9-star rating from 60 reviews reflects a dedicated niche audience. The show sits in the intersection of Language Learning and Philosophy categories on Apple Podcasts, which is telling — this is for learners who want their listening practice to also be intellectually stimulating. If you have reached a point where daily-life topics feel repetitive, Thinking in Japanese offers a refreshing alternative that pushes both your language skills and your perspective.

Japanese with Teppei and Noriko brings together two of the most popular Japanese language podcasters for a collaborative show that targets upper intermediate and advanced learners. With nearly 600 episodes released as of early 2026, the podcast offers one of the largest libraries of natural Japanese conversation practice available anywhere. The format is straightforward -- Teppei and Noriko have genuine, unscripted conversations about a wide range of topics, from personal anecdotes and Japanese culture to current events and everyday life. Many episodes come in two-part installments, allowing them to explore subjects in real depth rather than just skimming the surface. What makes this show particularly valuable is the dynamic between two distinct speaking styles. You get exposed to different rhythms, vocabulary choices, and conversational habits in every episode, which is closer to how Japanese actually sounds in the wild compared to single-host shows. The podcast carries a 4.8-star rating from 54 reviews, with listeners highlighting the natural flow of conversation and how much it helps with real-world listening comprehension. Both hosts are experienced teachers with their own successful solo podcasts, so they know how to keep their language accessible without making it feel contrived. Support options through Patreon and Ko-fi give dedicated listeners access to additional materials. For learners who have outgrown slower, more structured podcasts and want to train their ears on authentic back-and-forth Japanese dialogue, this is a natural next step.

Advanced Japanese Podcast with SAYAS fills an important gap in the Japanese learning podcast landscape -- content that is genuinely aimed at advanced learners rather than just marketing itself that way. Host SAYAS tackles topics that most language learning podcasts shy away from, including mental health in Japan, social issues, rescue animal welfare, and cultural commentary alongside lighter fare about Japanese customs and language itself. With 65 episodes averaging around 28 minutes each, these are substantial listening sessions that challenge advanced learners with natural vocabulary and complex sentence structures. SAYAS holds a perfect 5.0-star rating, though from a smaller pool of 7 reviews, reflecting a dedicated niche audience. What sets this show apart from other advanced-level content is the combination of challenging Japanese with genuine learning support. Subscribers can access furigana-annotated transcripts and English translations, meaning you can push yourself with difficult material and still have a safety net for comprehension checks. Episodes from early 2026 cover topics like rescue cat cafes and social commentary, showing the kind of depth and variety that keeps advanced learners coming back. SAYAS also offers private lessons and video courses through her website, with podcast listener discounts, making this part of a broader learning ecosystem. For learners at the N2 or N1 level who want to engage with real, thought-provoking Japanese content rather than simplified material, this podcast delivers exactly that challenge.

Speak Japanese Naturally Podcast zeroes in on something most Japanese learning resources overlook entirely: pronunciation, rhythm, pitch accent, and intonation. Host Fumi explicitly targets intermediate and advanced learners who already have grammar and vocabulary under their belt but struggle to sound natural when they speak. This focus on the phonetic side of Japanese makes the podcast unique in a crowded field. With 59 episodes averaging 30 to 45 minutes each and weekly updates continuing into 2026, the show covers culturally rich topics like Japanese school club culture, earthquake preparedness, and the surprisingly complex rules around garbage disposal in Japan. These real-world subjects give learners exposure to practical vocabulary while the longer format allows Fumi to develop ideas in depth. The podcast has earned a 4.8-star rating from 10 reviews, with listeners specifically praising the accompanying YouTube shadowing videos as a valuable complement to the audio content. Fumi also offers a paid subscription course at her website for structured lessons on pronunciation fundamentals. The show sits in a sweet spot for learners at the N3 to N1 range who can understand most Japanese but want to close the gap between comprehension and production. If you have ever been told your Japanese sounds textbook-like or robotic, this podcast directly addresses that problem with practical, focused guidance on how native speakers actually shape their sounds.

Michael and Mami have been producing Bilingual News since 2013, making it one of the longest-running Japanese-English podcasts available. With 698 episodes, the format is simple but effective: each week they discuss current news stories, with Michael speaking primarily in English and Mami in Japanese. The unscripted, one-take approach means conversations feel genuine rather than rehearsed, and listeners get exposed to both languages simultaneously in a natural back-and-forth.

The topics range widely — recent episodes have covered time zone science, divorce statistics, AI language models, cybersecurity, and various scientific phenomena. This breadth means you pick up vocabulary across many domains rather than just daily-life Japanese. The bilingual format also works as a built-in comprehension check: if you miss something in Japanese, the English discussion often covers the same ground, and vice versa.

Transcripts are available through the official Bilingual News app, which many listeners consider essential for deeper study. The 4.4-star rating from 207 reviews and the show's decade-plus track record speak to its staying power. At 698 episodes, there is an enormous archive covering news from the last twelve years, offering a time capsule of how Japan and the world have changed. The explicit content rating reflects the hosts' willingness to discuss any topic honestly rather than sanitizing for a classroom audience. For upper-intermediate to advanced learners who want real content rather than pedagogical material, this remains a gold standard.

Okkei Japanese Podcast takes a storytelling-first approach to language learning that makes it stand out in a crowded field. The core philosophy is that stories from daily life stick in your memory because they carry context, emotion, and real-world relevance -- and the podcast leans hard into that idea. With 99 episodes and a perfect 5.0-star rating from 8 reviews, the show has quickly built a devoted audience since launching. Episodes run about 20 to 25 minutes and are tagged with JLPT levels spanning N4 through N1, making it accessible to a wide range of learners beyond the beginner stage. Topics blend cultural observations about life in Japan, manga discussions, personal narratives, and explorations of things like unwritten social rules that visitors and learners often stumble over. Full transcripts with furigana pronunciation guides are available on the companion website, which is a significant help for learners working through unfamiliar kanji. The show uses natural-speed audio delivered in a conversational tone, emphasizing organic language acquisition over formal grammar drills. Bilingual episode titles in both Japanese and English help listeners preview what each episode covers before diving in. The podcast is actively maintained with weekly updates continuing into February 2026, and the host maintains a presence across Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok for additional content. For learners who find traditional lesson-format podcasts dry, the narrative-driven approach here offers a refreshing alternative that still delivers genuine language exposure.

News in Slow Japanese has been a trusted resource for Japanese learners since 2013, and its longevity speaks to how well the concept works. Hosted by Sakura, a professional announcer from Japan, each episode presents interesting news and cultural stories in deliberately slowed-down, crystal-clear Japanese. Episodes are short -- typically one to four minutes -- which makes them perfect for daily listening without any time commitment pressure. The show provides both slow and normal-speed versions of each story, letting learners first grasp the content at a comfortable pace and then challenge themselves with natural delivery. With 90 ratings and a 4.5-star score, the podcast is particularly popular among intermediate learners studying for the JLPT N3, N2, or N1 exams. The content itself leans toward cultural topics rather than hard news -- think Japanese humor, movies, manga, sports, and seasonal traditions -- which keeps things engaging even when you are working through difficult vocabulary. Transcripts and show notes with vocabulary breakdowns are available on the companion website, turning each short episode into a complete study session if you want it to be. The podcast's bite-sized format makes it an excellent complement to longer-form Japanese listening practice. Rather than replacing your main study podcast, News in Slow Japanese works well as a focused warm-up or cooldown activity that reinforces listening skills with current, relevant content delivered at an accessible pace.

Nihongo no Tane -- which translates to Japanese Seeds -- is a compact podcast that packs genuine language learning value into roughly four-minute episodes. Host Yumi speaks in natural but slightly slowed Japanese about whatever catches her interest, from Japanese cultural traditions and idioms to stories about her cat and observations about daily life. With 173 episodes and a perfect 5.0-star rating, the show has found a loyal audience among upper beginner to intermediate learners who want regular, manageable doses of real Japanese. The podcast is produced by TheJapanesePage.com, a well-established Japanese learning community, which means it sits within a broader ecosystem of study resources. Each episode includes comprehension questions to test understanding, and Makoto+ members get access to full transcripts with vocabulary lists for deeper study. Yumi's delivery hits a nice balance -- she speaks naturally enough that it does not feel like a language lesson, but slowly enough that intermediate learners can follow along without constantly rewinding. The topics are personal and varied, which means you get exposed to a wide range of vocabulary rather than the same handful of subjects recycled over and over. Weekly releases kept the show active through late 2025, and the short episode length makes it one of the easiest podcasts to maintain as a daily habit. For learners who find longer podcasts intimidating or hard to fit into a busy schedule, Nihongo no Tane offers a low-pressure way to keep your ears tuned to Japanese every single day.