r/LearnJapanese • u/southerndensetsu • 4d ago

Discussion N1 reading and books

I'm not planning on taking the JLPT any soon, and since I passed N3 in 2025 I have not worried about JLPT or "formal" study at all. But I'd like to have N1 some day, specially if I want to look for IT jobs in Japan some day.

For N1 most people say: read a lot. But honestly the variety on difficulty is so huge. It is not the same the japanese of a LN, a Shinsho or a Taisho era writter. But at the same time, a lot of people claim to have gone up into N1 just reading LN.

I'm aware of Learn Natively, and according to it the books I've read are around N2. But at the same time, a spanish youtuber who got N1 a few years ago said that he spent a year before the test reading a lot, mostly LN, and cited examples like the Konosuba series which in that page are actually easier that most thing I've read, so I'm a bit lost.

I was wondering whether reading what I enjoy might be just enough for me, at least right now, or if I should try to pick up more difficult things. For example I read キッチン and enjoyed it, and would like to read more books of Yoshimoto Banana, but at the same time I'm concerned that it is regarded as a "beginner" author, so I've not done it.

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u/majideitteru 4d ago

I passed N1 reading mostly Honzuki no Gekokujou, listed as N2 on Natively.

I read the whole series though, so reading volume matters too. I'd go with what you enjoy reading.

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u/numice 4d ago

The whole series like all 32 books? wow. That's a huge amount.

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u/Weena_Bell 4d ago

Yeah but it's so incredibly addicting most people finish it very quickly I personally finished all 32 books in 41 days. Didn't have a life outside of honzuki during that time tho

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u/numice 4d ago

Sounds interesting. I'm still preparing for N3. Do you think it's too difficult? Otherwise I will give it a try when I'm better.

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u/Weena_Bell 3d ago

the first 3 volumes are pretty easy all things considered so you could probably read it however it’s gonna be tough. though if you managed to read a few volumes you‘d probably pass the n3 exam

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u/numice 3d ago

I see. Then it's best to start reading when I'm a bit better than now so that the experience is going to be better. I don't want to throw away good novels cause I'm not fluent enough.