Not in Japan? Don't have access to Japanese TV via satellite? iTunes podcasts are an effective and free way to improve your listening comprehension.

How do I get podcasts

If you don't already have it, download iTunes. Once you open iTunes, you should see a link for podcasts in your library near the top of the list. From there you can go to the podcasts directory and search for podcasts.

There are a few "learn Japanese" podcasts on the US listing, but to discover Japanese podcasts on a range of topics, you'll need to switch to the Japanese iTunes store. To change iTunes stores, click Store in the iTunes library, and then scroll down to the bottom of the page, where you should see a button for "country." Choose Japan (日本） and then click the podcasts link, and you're good to go.

To download podcasts, you don't need to register for an iTunes Japan account. If you want to purchase music, movies, and audiobooks, you will need to register, and you'll also need a Japanese credit card or an iTunes Japan Gift Card, which you can purchase on this site.

Which podcasts do you recommend?

News

読売ニュース

Now that Nikkei has removed their daily news podcast, there is only one real contender in the news space- Yomiuri. As Yomiuri has the largest circulation of the Japanese newspapers, this isn't exactly a bad thing; however, I'm a fan of choice in media, and when there is only one option for the news, that rubs me the wrong way. In any case, it's a great way to get the headlines and summaries for Japan, and it is probably one of the best podcasts to practice listening for the JLPT, as the newscaster style is often employed on the test. It is a daily podcast, but one can only download the last five days of content; in other words, you will have to download the podcast at least every five days if you don't want to miss any episodes. The average length of Yomiuri episodes is 20 minutes.

The Economy

日経トレンディ

Although Nikkei (the leading Japanese business newspaper) has put most of their podcasts behind a paywall, 日経トレンディ (Nikkei Trends) is still being produced and distributed freely. This weekly program introduces recent business trends, explains keywords, and features additional commentary by the hosts. The show is professionally produced and the hosts spend relatively little time making small talk, which makes it one of my favorites. The average episode length is about 20 minutes.

西川里美は日経一年生！

In addition to 日経トレンディ, the "intro to Nikkei" podcast is still available. Nikkei ichinensei is intended for young Japanese who are about to enter the world of work, and is an attempt to get them to start reading the newspaper. As such, very basic economic concepts are explained in simple Japanese; this can be helpful for one's Japanese, as the banter between the two hosts is quite easy to understand; however, it will almost certainly frustrate anyone who knows anything about the economy, as the content of the show is very basic.

The podcast switched hosts in April, and I must say, I enjoyed the previous host much more, mainly because in her second year, the questions became a bit more interesting. Thankfully, you can still download all of her podcasts- all 55 of them- through the same iTunes link. The length of episodes is all over the map for this one.

Video Games

ヒデオチャンネルラジオ

Hideo Kojima (of Metal Gear Solid fame) has a weekly podcast, in which he discusses books, music, games, and whatever else is on his mind. The program is very chatty, and a great introduction to casual Japanese; as a result, it probably won't be much help for your formal studies, but it's fun, and a great way to relax when you can't take any more kanji. Episodes generally range in length from 20 to 30 minutes.

Love Advice

男女の心理学・知りたい！相手の気持ち

This is the most popular podcast in Japan, but judging from the write-ins, it appears that most of the audience is junior and senior high school students. This is another "casual" Japanese program. Each episode makes some tongue-in-cheek point about the nature of boys and girls, and there is a skit followed by the young male and female host respectively explaning their gender's "uniqueness." If this sounds like bs, well, it is, but the back-and-forth between the hosts can be entertaining, and I personally find the show so over the top that I actually enjoy most of the episodes. Most episodes are under 10 minutes.

Studying- Basic Level

JapanesePod101 offers a decent program for studying Japanese, although even their "advanced" courses are at the level of a first year college Japanese class. Although they will attempt to charge you at every opportunity if you download the podcasts through their site, you can use iTunes to get all of their good content for free. The "perk" of membership is PDFs of each lesson, but unfortunately, the PDFs are created such that you can't select the text and paste it into Mnemosyne or SuperMemo for memorization, rendering a membership worthless. Also see my warning about Japanesepod101.com's marketing. All that said, their content is decent if you're just starting out studying Japanese.

Have a podcast to recommend?

Do you have podcast recommendations for me? I'd like to hear what you're listening to. Let me know!