TheJapanShop.com

Thank you, Andy! I'm glad you like my sense of humor. I think you are one of the few--hehe. I love making the newsletters. I worry they are too eclectic. Usually, I think of a topic or something I want to research in the middle of the night and that becomes the next day's newsletter. It's fun but a little chaotic--I never really know if the thing that grabbed me at 2am will land with anyone else. So a note like yours genuinely makes my day. Don't worry, I have no plans to change a thing (my sleep schedule, on the other hand, could use some work). Thanks for reading--and for the smile. Clay

ありがとうございます, Diana! That kind of loyalty is the best thing a little shop like ours could ask for. Thank you again! Clay & Yumi

Thank you so much, Aviva! We’ll definitely be doing more ドキドキガチャ pulls soon, so stay tuned. Also, the Sentence Explorer on the website (and coming to the app next week) now includes pitch-accent diagrams for most vocabulary words. And thank you for mentioning the newsletter. Honestly, many of the lesson emails begin with me waking up and wondering, “Why does Japanese do that?” Then I look into it and share what I find. Completely random, in other words. Or, as we prefer to call it, a highly structured pedagogical series of carefully planned educational lessons. Clay & Yumi

Thank you, Michelle! "Something special" is a lot to live up to, so now we're just going to focus on not messing it up. Hehe. So glad the app is working the way you hoped. We'll keep at it! Clay & Yumi

Thank you, Anya! Years of Makoto magazine and you still love it. We really appreciate you sticking with us. It keeps us motivated to make the next one even bigger and better. Clay & Yumi

Thank you and you are awesome! The first bundle we did was what eventually became the Learn Japanese with Stories bundle #1. The hard part was figuring out when a bundle was "complete." Of course, no bundle is truly complete since we will keep improving, editing, adding worksheets, etc to them all. But most of all, what you said is exactly what we want to do: offer extreme value for the money. So, thank you so much! Clay

We really appreciate you! "Customer for life" is a big thing to say, so 本当にありがとうございます！ We'll keep the updates coming to you. Thank you again! Clay & Yumi

Thank you so much, Barry! We always figured if learning Japanese felt like a chore, we were doing it wrong, so "fun" is exactly what we're aiming for. Thank you again! Clay & Yumi

Thank you so much! "Free updates" felt like the only fair option. Charging you again to fix our own typos seemed a little iffy. Hehe. The goal this year is to update and add all our back catalog to the app. So, many more updates to come! Clay & Yumi

Thank you so much, Jonathan! Yumi was a radio DJ for 10 years in Japan before we started all this. So, she really enjoys doing the recordings. I'll let her know she is appreciated :) Thank you again! Clay

Thank you so much for the many years of support :) The app was a huge project since it integrated just about everything we do (books/stories + the magazine). We will add pitch accent diagrams to vocabulary words with the next update. Thank you for sticking with us from the early (embarrassing) days till now. Clay & Yumi

Thank you so much, Sebastian! We really appreciate you. The truth is I have a hard time ever calling something "finished." There's always one more thing to tweak. :) Thank you again! Clay & Yumi

Thank you! Short and engaging stories that interest you are a great way to learn vocabulary, grammar, kanji, sentence structure, etc. That's Makoto in a nutshell. It's like a multi-vitamin that tastes good. Memorizing lists... not so much. We appreciate you and let us know if you have suggestions for future content! Clay & Yumi

Thank you so much, Neil! We really appreciate you. Yumi does most of the audio and I mostly just stay out of her way, so I'll happily pass along that it's a hit. Thank you again! Clay

Thank you so much! I can never quite decide what to make next, so we just... make all of it. Turns out that's a feature. Hehe. Thank you again! Clay & Yumi

ありがとうございます, Vladimir! Post office mix-ups are the worst kind because they're nobody's fault and everybody's problem. Really glad we got it sorted. Thank you again! Clay & Yumi

Thank you so much, Ingrid! We really appreciate you. The nice thing about digital is that keeping up the "lifetime updates" is genuinely easy. Whenever I catch an "oops" or think of something new to add, I can cover my tracks quickly :) Thank you again! — Clay & Yumi

Thank you so much, Natalia! Honestly, making these is the fun part for us, so "thank you for creating them" feels a little backwards. We should be thanking you for the excuse to keep nerding out over Japanese. We really appreciate you. Thank you again! Clay & Yumi

Thank you so much! We're big believers that reading and listening together is where Japanese finally clicks, so it's great to hear it's working that way for you. Thank you again! Clay & Yumi

Thank you so much! The free lifetime updates are partly to save me from total embarrassment. I get to fix my errors while adding value and content. Win win! Clay