I know I have videos all over the place on my blog, and many of them need updating (sorry!). So I’ve compiled a list of the best YouTube channels onto one post for you. Please let me know if there are any great ones that I’ve missed! Thank you so much to the people and companies who create these videos so the rest of us can learn Japanese! 🙂
Best Japanese YouTube Channels for Babies and Toddlers:
1. ノッカーナアニメーション (nokkana animation): adorable, short videos that will entertain your little one and teach them a few words in the process. Lot’s of Peek-a-Boo-style videos. There are dozens and dozens of videos and playlists, teaching everything from hiragana, colors, nursery songs, and a lot of more. (They also have a similar channel called Nokkana World).
Best Japanese YouTube Channels for Preschoolers:
1. しまじろうチャンネル(SHIMAJIROCH): I just love everything by Benesse. I credit Shimajiro and his pals for a lot of my children’s Japanese education. This YouTube channel is full of short stories and fun songs.
2. 東京ハイジ (TOKIOHEIDI) : Lots of cute animations and songs!
3. チブクラ！(Small Crafts): Short videos that will inspire you and your preschooler to craft.
4. oojioo: A YouTube channel just full of cute ekakiuta’s (songs that help you draw).
5. 童謡チャンネルby takanonGB: Lots of Japanese children’s songs with lyrics so you can sing along.
6. 動く絵本、童謡、いないいないばあ の動画「ゆめあるチャンネル」: Lots of Japanese children’s songs, fingerplays, and stories! They’ve added a lot of new content since I last visited a few years ago. Here is their website: www.yumearuehon.com
7. Visit my blog post where I’ve listed all the best hiragana learning videos!
8. YouTube Channel SongsPlace has many children’s songs and fingerplays.
9. SongsLand is another channel with Japanese children’s songs.
10. PinkFong has a lot of Japanese animated short stories (lots of Aesop’s Fables) and songs. There’s English videos mixed in there as well.
11. Takanotetsuya has many great songs for preschoolers. I think this channel is intended to be for prospective preschool teachers in Japan.
12. 保育士バンク！チャンネル【公式】This is another channel full of songs of preschoolers, performed by preschool teachers.
13. TEASOBI channel : even more songs and finger rhymes
14. 子ある日和 手遊び歌 Japanese children’s songs performed by teachers, plus origami instructional videos.
15. Super Simple Japanese has great Japanese videos with good animation.
Best Japanese YouTube Channels for Grade-Schoolers:
1. jun egusa has created a lot of animated videos to teach math, Japanese history, kanji, etc! I’m pretty impressed.
2. The Mr. Men Little Miss videos by Sanrio has many many little episodes that could help with Japanese listening skills.
3. YouTube Channel キッズボンボンhas many videos about animals, science, kanji, hiragana, fairy tales and Japanese folktales, etc.
4. The FujiTV Kids YouTube channel has many educational and just-for-fun videos.
Best Japanese Educational Videos for Grade-Schoolers:
1. NHK for School is hands-down, the best resource I have found. You can search all of their educational videos by grade level or subject matter. Love this website so much! I have sung its praises before in this blog post.
2. The Science Channel website has a lot of great videos for gradeschoolers on up.
Best Japanese Educational Videos for High Schoolers and Beyond:
1. Erin’s Challenge! by the Japan Foundation : lots of videos and other resources for the older Japanese student. (blog post)
2. JapanSocietyNYC: has a lot of excellent videos showcasing the Japanese language and culture.
3. PuniPuniJapan: The animation is interesting but you can learn a lot of Japanese vocabulary! Lots of Japanese lessons.
Please comment below with your favorite resources and YouTube channels!
Hiragana Mama 
Great post, thank you so much!
you’re welcome!
Hello! I found your page months ago because I’m mexican (31 year old) and I’m learning japanese almost by myself, but I’d like to learn it an a more natural and efficent way than “recording” grammatical structures in my brain.
At this time I saw the kanji sheets you recommended and now I return to your site to made some exercises and then I found those useful video resources for learning. I think they are also useful for adults like me. I hope we can share materials.
Greetings from Mexico. どうもありがとうございますひらがなママさん！
どういたしまして！がんばってください。
Love it. Thank you for sharing!!
Hi! Have you seen Baby Bus? I found their videos very cute too. Do you think their Japanese version is well translated? I like that in some animations they try to show the importance of good manners and values for kids.
This was very helpful, thank you for this post, i loved it