Show guide
Chiaki's Nihongo Café is a cozy, simple Japanese podcast built as a bridge between textbooks and the real world. Here's how to study it in Wakatta.
About the show
Chiaki talks in clear, simple Japanese for learners who find textbook passages a bit dull — a warm, insightful listen aimed at upper-beginner to intermediate (around N3), with free scripts each episode. Grab a coffee and read along.
How to use it in Wakatta
In Wakatta the show is ready to play, and every episode is a tappable transcript with furigana. Tap any word for its reading and meaning, save the ones worth keeping, and review them later with the exact sentence and audio — so you actually understand what you hear instead of listening past it. (Don’t see a show you love? Search for any podcast in the app.)
What a transcript looks like
今日はお茶を淹れます。
淹れます iremasu · to brew (tea)
Every episode becomes a transcript like this — tap any word for its reading and meaning.
Recent episodes
- #078 Dating in the Edo Period ! Misemono-goya Where Youth Gathered｜江戸時代の定番デートスポット？若者が集まる見世物小屋【Simple Japanese Podcast for Listening Practice】 · 2026-07-06
- #077 Modern Japanese "Tōji" and the Latest Onsen Research｜現代の日本人がハマる「新しい湯治」と最新の温泉研究【Simple Japanese Podcast for Listening Practice】 · 2026-06-22
- #076 For the Time-Conscious Modern Japanese: What the New Cafe "KNOWS COFFEE" is Out to Do｜タイパ重視の現代人に！新カフェ「KNOWS COFFEE」が狙うもの · 2026-06-15
- #075 More Than 400 Words! The Beautiful Japanese Rain Names｜400語以上！日本語の「雨」の名前【Simple Japanese Podcast for Listening Practice】 · 2026-06-08
- #074 Why the Belly? The Surprising History and Meaning of Seppuku｜なぜお腹？サムライが「切腹」する本当の理由【Simple Japanese Podcast for Listening Practice】 · 2026-06-01
- #073 Magic, Hotchkiss, and Bond? The Strange History of Japanese Stationery｜マジック、ホッチキス、ボンド…文房具の名前の不思議【Simple Japanese Podcast for Listening Practice】 · 2026-05-25
Tap an episode to open it in Wakatta and read along with the transcript.
Common questions
What level is Chiaki's Nihongo Café?
It's upper-beginner to intermediate — around N3 — simple Japanese that bridges textbook and real-world speech. In Wakatta it comes with a synced transcript and furigana, so you can read along and tap anything you miss.
About the creator
Chiaki is a certified Japanese teacher based near Lausanne, Switzerland, with a master’s degree in language education. She teaches both in person and online, and pairs each episode with free scripts (plus translations and Anki decks on Patreon).
Read along in Wakatta
Wakatta turns real Japanese podcasts into tappable transcripts — tap any word for its reading and meaning, and review what you save with the original audio.
