Japanese Language Learning

Here are some resources for learning Japanese, arranged by learning level. Beginner requires no previous Japanese knowledge. Elementary requires understanding of some Japanese, particularly hiragana and katakana, with some sites being in basic Japanese language. Intermediate assumes knowledge of kanji and elementary level grammar and will all be Japanese-language. Advanced is for those who have at least an intermediate understanding of Japanese grammar or better, and will be Japanese-language only.

Beginner

• Maggie Sensei - Lots of Japanese grammar and vocabulary lessons with both romaji and kana/kanji.
• Erin's Challenge - I can learn Japanese! - There's a paper textbook and dvd you can buy of the series as well but it's not required. All of the main lessons are on the website.
• The Japanese Page - Lots of lessons and articles for new learners of Japanese.
• Kawaii Nihongo - Japanese learning app for phones with cute anime characters
• Coscom Learn Japanese on the Web - Has some free materials such as flashcards and grammar lessons, though a lot is paid-for content.
• Japanese in Anime and Manga - Learn simple, common phrases in Japanese anime.
• JF Japanese E-learning Minato - Good resource for beginner and elementary-level folks
• Nihongo de Care-Navi - Simple phrases and vocab related to social carework (health, medical etc.)
• Easy Japanese - Beginner and elementary Japanese lessons provided by NHK.
• Nihongo o Narau - Beginner and elementary Japanese lessons in both romaji and kana.

Elementary

• Dorilu - Has drills and printouts for kokugo (Japanese language learned in school) for elementary-school students. Requires knowledge of kanji for navigating the site.
• Marugoto Words - You can make basic vocabulary lists and quiz yourself on basic grammar. Allows you to choose between kana or kanji, but also has romaji readings for vocab.
• World of Chokochoko - The site is no longer updated, but all the articles and resources are still available. There are kanji and kana practice writing sheets, as well as a grammar and vocab notebook.
• Lee Obasan - Tons of printouts for practicing hiragana, katakana, kanji, grammar and vocabulary and simple explanations. Requires a knowledge of hiragana and katakana (kanji has furigana readings in brackets) and basic-level grammar.
• Happy Lilac - Printouts intended for Japanese elementary school students. Has kana, kanji, vocab and grammar printouts, as well as social studies, arithmetic, science and so on. Requires kanji knowledge to navigate site.
• Visualizing Japanese Grammar - Japanese grammar review.
• Online Japanese Practice - Allows you to practice your verb conjugation and hiragana/katakana. You'll require an IME for inputting Japanese characters.
• Mykikitori - Japanese listening practice.
• Wata no C - Web Magazine in simple Japanese. Has articles written specifically to be suited for JLPT levels.
• マンガ『坊っちゃん』オンライン - Learn Japanese through manga. Site is for a textbook, but has free downloadable practice sheets, vocabulary and culture notes.
• 漢字ドリルのJAKKA - Kanji drill sheets intended for native Japanese elementary and middle schoolers, but can be used for foreign learners. Requires some kanji knowledge to navigate site.
• Old Stories of Japan - Online anthology of fairy tales, old legends, rakugo and classics. All stories are completely bilingual in both Japanese and English, but requires some kanji knowledge to navigate.
• 福娘童話集 - Fairy tales, folklore, short stories and fables from around the world. Has audio, English, and furigana options, but requires some kanji knowledge to navigate the initial site.
• 幼児でも覚えられる漢字教育ゲーム！ - Online picture flashcards and games that make it easy for even toddlers to learn kanji meanings. Requires kanji knowledge for navigating site.
• 低学年の無料学習ドリル - Kanji and kokugo drills intended for lower elementary grades. Requires some kanji to navigate the site.
• Kanji Damage - A cheeky but useful site aiming to teach over 1000 commonly-used Kanji through mnemonics. Also provides info on differences between kanji that have similar meanings and how to use them correctly.
• Fairy Tales and Short Stories with Easy Japanese - Graded readers containing famous folk tales and other short stories.
• Let's Review Japanese Counters - A tool that helps you learn various common counters.

Intermediate

• News Web Easy - Requires a knowledge of katakana/hiragana and elementary-level grammar. All kanji has furigana. This is a simple grammar/vocab version of the regular NHK news, intended for native late-elementary and middle school students (so about 10 - 15 years old) as well as foreign learners of Japanese.
• 違いがわかる事典 - Requires a knowledge of kanji (else you need a furigana add-on such as rikaichan) and intermediate-level grammar. Explains the differences between two similar words in Japanese and how to use them in sentences properly.
• やさしくまるごと○○ - Requires a knowledge of kanji for navigating the videos, but each video's kanji level will depend on what elementary school year it's for. This is a review site of various kokugo lessons (Japanese language learned in school), which includes romaji, hiragana, katakana, kanji, essay writing, grammar from elementary first grade to elementary sixth grade. (lilac section) The other sections are maths, science and social studies.
• Subs2srs Allows you to create anki flashcards using subs in anime.
• 日本語の例文 - Lots of example sentences. Good for seeing grammar points in context.
• 日本語作文作成支援システムなつめ - Tool to find out how particular words are used in newspapers, blogs etc. and how often they are used, as well as the particles used with a particular word.
• Manga Library Z Free to read manga for reading practice. Be aware that some manga on the site is adults-only.
• ことわざ学習室 - Learn proverbs, idioms, and four-kanji-character compound words with easy to understand explanations and history behind the terms.
• 無料で使える学習ドリル - Free printable kanji and kokugo practice drills intended for native 4th grade to 6th grade elementary school.
• おぼえられる漢字歌 - Memorise the meaning of kanji though short poems.
• Yahoo!きっず - Japanese version of Yahoo! Kids. Contains games, articles and school subject practice drills, as well as an illustrated encyclopaedia. You can even choose the level of furigana you wish to use.
• Japanese Radio Podcasts with Read-Aloud Method - Podcasts with scripts available, featuring intermediate-level grammar and vocabulary.
• Intermediate Japanese Grammar with Anki Flashcards - Teaches you on how to incorporate newly learned intermediate-level grammar into your Anki deck.
• 読解教材バンク - Contains plenty of reading materials such as articles and essays. Each article has a frame with grammar and vocabulary notes available if you click on a word.
• ひろがる - Simple articles on various topics with furigana and English translation options.
• MATCHA - やさしい日本語 - Japanese travel and culture e-zine. This is the easy grammar version, though there is a regular Japanese version, and others in various languages including English.
• Nippon Talk - Bilingual blog with furigana and English translations alongside Japanese articles.
• Materials for Japanese Lessons: Intensive Reading - Learn grammar and vocabulary by doing intensive reading of manga.
• ふしぎねこのきゅーちゃん - Webcomic about a funny cat and its human. Sentences are simple grammar, but require some kanji knowledge.
• Japanese.io - Online Japanese reader with kanji, vocabulary and grammar lookup.
• 丈夫な屈狸 - Contains a large resource list for all levels of learners as well as a guide for intermediate learners on commonly misused Japanese with proper usage examples.

Advanced

• Weblio - An online Japanese thesaurus intended for adult native speakers, so keep that in mind. Requires knowledge of kanji, as well as advanced grammar and vocabulary.
• Goo 辞書 - Online dictionary. It shows synonyms so if you find a word you don't understand, you might be able to figure out the meaning from similar words.
• 国語文法 - Grammar teaching from a kokugo teacher.
• Niwa Saburoo の日本語文法概説 - Similar to the above, though a bit more technical definitions in my opinion.
• 早川乃梨子のオノマトペイント - Test your onomatopoeia knowledge through illustrations and quizzes.
• 漢字辞典ネット - Online kanji dictionary.
• Kotobank - Look up technical words or phrases in over 100 specialist dictionaries.
• 青空文庫 - Digital library containing thousands of out-of-copyright and free books.
• 北海道大学オープンコースウェア - Open university courses and lectures presented in Japanese.
• 小説家になろう- A site where Japanese authors that are starting out put their books up for free. Great for reading practice for more advanced readers.
• University of Virginia Japanese Text Initiative - Library with tons of free Japanese books available to read.
• Comic Walker - Online manga reader with free comics available.
• 1000moji - A short story archive where the stories are only 1000 characters long.
• はてなブックマーク - Social bookmarking site with every topic from politics to anime and video games.
• Project Gutenberg - Japanese language books available online for free.

Misc resources

• The Japan Foundation - Offers programmes, activities and resources in London relating to Japanese culture and language.
• Bonjinsha Books Online - Store and publisher of Japanese textbooks.
• Nico Nico Pedia - Wiki for Japanese niconico video memes and slang.
• Japanese Level-Up Treats learning Japanese like an RPG and has some great ideas for both new and advanced learners of the Japanese language.
• Nihongo e な - Amazing resource with tons of links to various sites that will help you learn Japanese grammar, reading, kanji, kana, vocabulary and so on.
• Tofugu - Entire site has really great resources, articles and guides on Japanese culture and language.
• Guide to Japanese - Fantastic guide with a focus on translating visual novels.
• Imabi TONS of grammar points, from beginner to advanced, and beyond. Also has info on Classical Japanese and Okinawan.
• itazuraneko - Big list of resources, ranging from beginner to advanced.
• Online Japanese tests - Online tests to check your Japanese level.
• you can [not] learn japanese - Basic guide on how to start learning Japanese in independent study. Includes plenty of resources, readings and anki decks, as well as an offline archive.
• iKnow! Japanese - Flashcards for learning Japanese vocabulary, from beginner to advanced.
• Roellin Books - European Japanese Language Bookstore.
• Google入力ツール - Online Input Method Editor. Useful if you're using a phone that doesn't have a Japanese keyboard (It also does languages other than Japanese)
• Google日本語入力 - Downloadable Japanese IME for both computers and phones.
• sci.lang.japan Frequently Asked Questions - Questions and answers from usenet about the Japanese language.
• Complete Roadmap: How to Speak Japanese - Gives concrete goals and materials on learning to speak Japanese.
• FREE Websites for Japanese Reading Practice (At Every Level) - Many websites and other material available to practice your Japanese reading.
• LangCorrect - Writing practice for various foreign languages in the form of blogs. You can receive feedback from native speakers and correct non-native speakers on your language too.
• JLPT Stories - Podcast stories with grammar points, available at different levels of the JLPT from N5 to N1.
• Onomatopedia - An onomatopoeia encyclopaedia with illustrations and videos.
• Jishonari - A learning dictionary definitions from multiple sources, examples in the form of images and sample sentences, and even an option to use a reader, meaning that you can input any text and receive vocabulary and grammar notes.
• Bunpro - Grammar learning via SRS method.
• Wakarukana - Allows you to find reading and listening material suited for your level. Provides lists of anime, manga, drama and variety shows at various levels.
• Mangadou - Learn Japanese by reading manga. Most of the site is paid content, but there are some free samples.