What better way to practice your Japanese listening and comprehension skills than by watching Japanese shows! Learning Japanese by watching Japanese shows is a relaxing and entertaining way to study. However, with so many services available, finding a service with the shows you want to watch at a decent price is a pain. Let us help you here!
Are you struggling to keep up with Japanese conversations in your daily life? Despite studying textbooks and reading, do you find your listening skills lacking? Don’t worry, you’re not alone! Many Japanese learners face the same challenge. Feeling left out can be frustrating, whether at work, school, or during casual chats. But fear not because we’ve got a solution for you! In this blog, we’ll introduce you to a curated list of Japanese streaming sites to help you catch up on the latest dramas and improve your Japanese listening skills. So, whether you’re a language enthusiast or simply love Japanese shows, this is the perfect place to be!
Why watch Japanese shows?
You are surrounded by Japanese all day. Why would you want to return home and watch Japanese shows? Or perhaps watch a Japanese drama while on the train? Well, although it is always more relaxing and easier to watch your favorite or latest shows in your native language, watching shows in Japanese does have its benefits! Watching shows in Japanese on a regular basis can help to improve the following and more!
・Your listening abilities
・Increase vocabulary
・Expose you to more natural Japanese expressions and speaking that escapes Japanese language textbooks.
・Also, being able to take part in conversations about the latest comedy show or love drama does not hurt.
Here, we will review the top Japan-only 8 streaming services for Japanese shows. This list does not include overseas services such as Hulu, Netflix, Disney+, etc. Although very good and great to watch in their own right, if you are reading this article, most likely you are not interested in these services.
Whether you want to improve your Japanese or just like Japanese shows, you are sure to find a service that suits your needs!
Hello readers! Sakura Mobile is a SIM WiFi service provider for international residents and tourists in Japan.
Our global editorial team living in Japan will introduce the charms of the country based on what we have actually experienced and felt.
Table of Contents
Deciding what service to go for
Phone Plans and Internet Services
Deciding what service to go for
There are several things to consider when deciding which streaming service to use. A few things to consider include the following.
Things to consider when choosing a service
- The types of shows (genre) you want to watch
- Subscription pricing (monthly or yearly subscription)
- Free trials
- How do you plan to watch the service, etc. (PC, Smartphone, TV, etc.)
- If it will be useful for studying Japanese (Speed, type of speech, etc.)
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Services introduction
Below are the top 8 Japanese streaming services we found that will satisfy even the most drama/movie-hungry individuals while also learning Japanese!
We included a quick glance of the services in this table. You can find more information about each individual service further down in this article.
| U-Next | FOD Premium | Abema Premium | TVer | DMM TV | DAZN | Lemino Premium | Rakuten TV | |
| Monthly Fee | 2,189 JPY (tax incl.) | 976 JPY (tax incl.) | 960 JPY (tax incl.) | Free | 550 JPY (tax incl.) | 980 – 3,000 JPY (tax incl.) | 990 JPY (tax incl.) | Free |
| Trial Period | 30-day trial | 30-day trial | 2 weeks | N/A | 30-day trial | No | 30-day trial | N/A |
| Selling Points | Large library | FOD exclusive content | Abema exclusive content | Latest TV shows available | Anime! | Sports Paradise | Live Concerts | ・Rent what you want ・Special plans available |
| Website | U-Next (JPN) | FOD (JPN) | Abema (JPN) | TVer (JPN) | DMM (JPN) | DAZN (Eng) | Lemino (JPN) | Rakuten TV (JPN) |
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1) U-Next
One of the biggest streamers in Japan, U-Next is one of the first major Japanese streaming services. Although the service offers similar services, such as unlimited viewing and renting individual videos, U-Next’s unlimited viewing option boasts 210,000 titles customers can watch. In addition to videos, U-Next also offers a wide variety library of manga and magazines!
Although the monthly fee is among the group’s highest, U-Next gives back 1,200 points per month to their customers. The points can be used to rent and watch movies and dramas. Taking this into account, customers are really only paying 989 JPY for the service, and the remaining 1,200 points are essentially prepaying for a few movies and shows! As other services also charge for some shows, this works out great for watching the latest releases or catching up on some dramas. With so many shows, you should be able to find something that will help you practice your listening and understanding of Japanese. For people learning Japanese, you will definitely find something to help you on your Japanese learning journey!
| Price | 2,189 JPY (tax incl.) / month |
| Content | ・Japanese/Western/Korean/Asian: Movies/TV Shows (330,000 shows) ・Anime ・Sports (Soccer, Racing, Golf, Baseball, Basketball, etc.) ・Manga – 13,000 books ・Magazines – 190 magazines |
| Trial Period | 30-day trial |
| Compatible Devices | TV (Chromecast, Amazon Fire Stick, Apple TV) apps, Smartphone, Game Devices, and PC |
| Download Shows (Offline Viewing) | Yes |
| Website | https://video.unext.jp/ (Japanese) |
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2) FOD Premium
Boasting over 80,000 shows and movies, FOD is operated by one of the largest broadcasting networks in Japan, Fuji TV. As its parent company is a broadcasting network, FOD focuses mainly on Fuji TV’s library. What better way to ensure a healthy backlog of shows, as well as a continuous stream of new shows and movies to satisfy everyone!
FOD offers two main service tiers: free and premium services. To use the free service, you will need to sign up. Once you have done so, though, you can watch the first and most recent episodes of various TV shows. Can’t wait to see what happens after the first episode? Upgrade to the premium service, and you will have access to all the shows in the FOD library and can binge-watch as much as you want!
As with U-Next, FOD offers not only TV and movie content, but premium users can also access over 200 manga and magazine subscriptions to enjoy. With a wide variety of shows and content, we are sure you’ll find something to watch! Still not sure if you want to sign up? Take advantage of FOD’s 30-day free trial! You can try the free version to see if there is anything that may help you with learning Japanese!
| Price | 976 JPY (tax incl.) / month |
| Content | ・Japanese/Western/Asian – Movies/TV Shows – 80,000 shows (Unlimited viewing) ・Anime ・Fuji TV shows (Unlimited viewing) ・FOD Original Shows ・Sports (Skating, baseball, etc.) Rerun viewing ・Manga ・Magazines – 200 magazines |
| Trial Period | 30-day trial |
| Compatible Devices | TV (Chromecast, Amazon Fire Stick, Apple TV) apps, Smartphone, Game Devices (PlayStation), and PC |
| Download Shows (Offline Viewing) | Yes |
| Website | https://fod.fujitv.co.jp/ (Japanese) |
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3) Abema Premium
Looking for movies, TV, and anime? Abema Premium provides a range of Japanese, Western, and Asian Movies and TV shows. In addition, the service also offers unlimited anime viewing! Abema also has its fair share of original shows, along with a variety of unique programming such as mahjong, shogi, sports, music, Japanese variety shows, and more! They even have a separate channel for Korean content!
This service also has dedicated sports channels, which, instead of an exclusive sports service, may be enticing for individuals who want to keep up with sports but also enjoy watching other Japanese shows. But the number of available movies seems to be less than other services. For the pricing and show accessibility, though, it may be worth it for some individuals.
Although Abema offers a free service, it includes commercials during its programming, making it slightly less appealing today. However, if you want to watch some of Japan’s “unique” commercials, the free version may be an option. You will be sure to find something to help you with your Japanese studies!
| Price | FREE (Basic) / 960 JPY (Premium) per month (tax incl.) |
| Content | ・Japanese/Western/Asian – Movies/TV Shows – Unlimited viewing ・Anime ・Abema Original Shows ・Music ・Sports ・Mahjong/Shogi ・Manga ・Magazines – 200 magazines |
| Trial Period | 2 weeks free (for new registrations only) |
| Compatible Devices | TV app, Smartphone, and PC |
| Download Shows (Offline Viewing) | Yes |
| Website | https://abema.tv/about/premium (Japanese) |
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4) TVer
The next service, TVer, is a rather interesting addition to this lineup of Japanese streaming services. As you may have noticed, it is the only service whose price is listed as free, with no pay option. There is a good reason for this.
Although the service provides a wide range of Japanese TV shows and other entertainment programming, the shows are only available for a week. This is because the model for this service is called minogashi haishin (見逃し配信). TVer is essentially for viewing shows you may not have been able to watch in the past week. You have a week to catch up on the latest shows until they disappear.
If you have the time to keep up with your favorite shows, and considering it is free, this is an excellent option! You can always watch some shows during the morning commute to work/school! Since all the shows are relatively new or currently showing on TV, along with improving your Japanese, you can also pick up contemporary words and phrases!
| Price | Free |
| Content | ・Japanese TV Shows ・Anime ・Music |
| Trial Period | No |
| Compatible Devices | TV app, Smartphone, and PC |
| Download Shows (Offline Viewing) | No |
| Website | https://tver.jp (Japanese) |
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5) DMM TV (DMM Premium)
The next service we would like to introduce is DMM TV, or DMM Premium, which offers a wide variety of TV shows and movies at a very reasonable price. In addition, this Japanese streaming service particularly emphasizes anime as one of the service’s highlights. Considering the cost of the service, boasting 5,400 anime shows available for streaming, as well as more than 170,000 movies and TV shows, the service is something some people might want to look into.
Many of the positive reviews for DMM TV are for its anime line-up and selection. However, some people seem not very satisfied with the movies and TV show line-ups. In this case, if you are mainly looking for a cheap service with a large selection of anime shows, DMM TV may be of interest to you. You will find something to help you with your Japanese learning and listening! Just make sure you do not use too much anime vocabulary and speaking styles in your everyday life!
In addition to the standard plan, there are several special plans and packages that include DMM TV and other streaming services, such as DAZN (sports) and Pixiv (artist online community). If you are still unsure about whether this service is for you, rest assured, there is a 30-day free trial that you can take advantage of and see if this is the service for you!
| Price | 550 JPY / month (tax incl.) |
| Content | ・Japanese/Western/Asia - TV Shows/Movies – 170,000 shows/movies ・Anime – 5,400 shows |
| Trial Period | 30-day trial |
| Compatible Devices | TV app, Smartphone, and PC |
| Download Shows (Offline Viewing) | No |
| Website | https://tv.dmm.com/vod/ (English) |
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6) DAZN
Have you just moved to Japan and are looking for a service to scratch that ESPN itch? Look no further! DAZN is a service exclusively for sports! This includes domestic sports, matches, overseas games, and sporting events. You can choose between two plans, depending on the country and the type of sports you want to watch. You can also watch Japanese soccer matches and other sports, to pick up sports talk and discussions to help with your Japanese! Beyond learning standard Japanese, you can gain sports vocabulary!
Although perhaps expensive as a sports-only streaming service, with the wide range of sports and countries, it could be considered a deal compared to other programming services that offer sports content. DAZN is a great choice for a streaming service for sports fans of all types!
| Price | 980 – 3,000 JPY / month (tax incl.) |
| Content | ・Sports (Soccer, Golf, Racing, Baseball, Martial Arts, etc.) |
| Trial Period | None |
| Compatible Devices | TV app, Smartphone, Game Consoles, and PC |
| Download Shows (Offline Viewing) | No |
| Website | https://www.dazn.com/en-JP/welcome (English) |
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7) Lemino Premium
Although most likely not very well known, Lemino is the rebranded version of dTV, a docomo service. dTV was revamped and rebranded to Lemino in April of 2023. Although it seems like a superficial change at first glance, according to users, there are a few changes in the interface and the operation of the service compared to dTV. Two notable changes include the ability to simultaneously view the same show on multiple devices, which is no longer available, and a higher fee. However, there are still positive points to this service.
Lemino provides shows and movies similar to those offered by other services. However, in addition to these, this service offers exclusive content only available on Lemino! This includes not only TV shows but also concert shows and such. The new interface also seems to allow users to interact with the platform with emotes to respond to the content they watch, search by emotes, etc. One unique feature is saving your favorite scenes and creating chapters. Other services do not yet offer these Lemino exclusive features and are things you may be interested in.
Lemino offers a free plan along with its premium service, where you have access to a number of shows and content, but it will also include advertisements. This will be useful while trying to find shows to improve your Japanese listening!
| Price | 990 JPY / month (tax incl.) |
| Content | ・Japanese/Western/Korean – Movies/TV Shows ・Anime ・Sports ・Live Concerts |
| Trial Period | 30-day trial |
| Compatible Devices | TV app, Smartphone, and PC |
| Download Shows (Offline Viewing) | Yes |
| Website | https://lemino.docomo.ne.jp/ (Japanese) |
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8) Rakuten TV
We are sure you have heard of Rakuten before in Japan. From baseball to points, Rakuten is a name everyone is familiar with. However, did you know there is a Rakuten streaming service as well? It’s called Rakuten TV.
Rakuten TV’s service model differs slightly from the other services offered here. As a free service, it focuses on purchasing individual shows and movies rather than having a curated list of shows for each genre. This allows the viewer to only pay for what they want to watch instead of having a ton of content they will never watch. However, you can take advantage of special unlimited plans and campaigns.
You can view the lineup of available shows and content. With a generally low 200 yen per movie rental fee, there are sometimes deals and campaigns where you can rent movies and shows for 100 yen! In addition, there are unlimited plans for specific content such as kids’ content, voice actors, Pachinko, Asian dramas, and even Takarazuka theater!
| Price | Free (Need to purchase shows individually) |
| Some unlimited plans | |
| Content | ・Japanese/Western/Korean – Movies/TV Shows ・Anime ・Sports ・Live Concerts |
| Trial Period | 30-day trial |
| Compatible Devices | TV app, Smartphone, and PC |
| Download Shows (Offline Viewing) | Yes |
| Website | https://tv.rakuten.co.jp/ (Japanese) |
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Conclusion: Have you found a Japanese streaming service that interests you?
What do you think? Were you able to find a service that suits you? There are a number of other services available that are not listed here, including international services. However, our list should give you a good idea of what content Japanese streaming services provide and the differences between them. You can try to find a service that offers campaigns or discounts with services that you already use or perhaps are thinking of using. This includes discounts, getting points, etc. This could help to make the streaming services more enticing when they provide additional benefits. Just make sure that the service you decide to use is something that suits you and your needs and has content that can help you with your Japanese studies!
Requirements for Streaming
To properly stream your shows and content after signing up for a service, you will generally need the following.
- Device compatible with the streaming service you wish to use (PC, smartphone, gaming device, tablet, etc.)
- Internet connection (Phone plan, pocket WiFi, home internet connection, WiFi network, etc.)
Compatible Devices
Depending on the Japanese streaming service, the devices that are compatible with the service may differ. You need to ensure that the devices you have at home and plan to use with the streaming service are supported. Generally, any decent PC and Android/iPhone smartphone will work. Android tablets also should work without any issues. Besides using apps and software, many services provide access via a web browser. Check with the Japanese streaming service you sign up for to make sure your devices are compatible.
Internet Connection
After checking your device(s), you need to have a good internet connection. We recommend a home internet connection for the fastest and most stable viewing experience. However, a phone plan using a good provider for on-the-go viewing will let you enjoy your shows while you’re outside. Don’t have either of these yet? Don’t worry! We have you covered!
Sakura Mobile provides long-term SIM card and Pocket WiFi plans for those needing internet while out of the house. Sakura Mobile also offers home internet service when you are at home. These products and plans utilize Japan’s major telecommunications providers, docomo and NTT, for a fast and stable internet connection. You can take a look at the plans and services available below! With Sakura Mobile, you don’t need to compromise on service and support. With a speedy and professional support team, you can use the internet and watch your shows with ease of mind.
Why go with Sakura Mobile?
- The contract period is three months; after that, you can cancel at any time
- You can contact English customer support if you run into any problems
- Devices and services are on the docomo (SIM card & Pocket WiFi) and NTT (Home internet) networks, the fastest in Japan
Below are pages to the products and plans Sakura Mobile provides! Check them out if you are looking for internet access or you need a SIM card!
We hope that this article helped you find a Japanese streaming service to help you with your Japanese learning! Good luck!
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