guides · Updated · Yomite Team

Aozora Bunko read aloud: a step-by-step guide

Listen to Aozora Bunko in Yomite: open the site from Recommended sites, add works to your library, pick a voice. Furigana handling included.

To listen to Aozora Bunko in Yomite, tap ＋ (Add a book) in the Library and open Aozora Bunko from Recommended sites. On a work’s page, tap Add to library: the text is stored on your device, so it plays offline from then on, and the work’s own ruby (furigana) is used as the reading.

Related use case: Novels and web novels

Aozora Bunko is Japan’s biggest free digital library — out-of-copyright works including Natsume Sōseki, Dazai Osamu, Akutagawa Ryūnosuke, Miyazawa Kenji, Higuchi Ichiyō, and thousands more. All free.

In Yomite you open the Aozora Bunko website in the in-app browser, add the works you want to your library, and listen. Here’s the full tour.

Step 1 — Where do I open Aozora Bunko in the app?

In the Library, tap ＋ (Add a book). Scroll down the sheet that opens to Recommended sites, which has three shortcuts:

  • Aozora Bunko — Ranking — popular classics
  • Aozora Bunko — New — newly published works
  • Aozora Bunko — Browse — the author and title index

Tap one and the Aozora Bunko page opens in the in-app browser (the Web Reader). It is the Aozora Bunko site itself, so you find works by author or title through the site’s own author and title lists.

Step 2 — Which work should I start with?

Good short-story starting points: Dazai’s “Run, Melos!” (走れメロス), Akutagawa’s “Rashōmon” (羅生門) or “The Spider’s Thread” (蜘蛛の糸), Miyazawa’s “The Restaurant of Many Orders” (注文の多い料理店). Open the work’s library card (図書カード) or its XHTML text page.

Step 3 — How do I add a work to my library?

On the work’s page, tap Add to library at the top of the screen. The text is imported and the work appears in your library. From a library card page, Yomite follows the link to the text page for you.

The imported text is stored on your device, so it plays offline from then on. On import:

  • Furigana (ruby) — for works imported from Aozora Bunko, 漢字《かんじ》 ruby is always used as the reading. Settings → Text processing → Furigana handling does not apply to Aozora imports (it applies to other imports, such as text files).
  • Aozora annotations — for works imported from Aozora Bunko, ［＃…］ typesetting notes are always removed and not read aloud. Settings → Text processing → Strip Aozora Bunko annotations does not apply to Aozora imports.

To listen without importing, tap the read-aloud button while the page is open and Yomite reads the page on screen.

The Add to library button appears while Settings → Web novel import is on (the default).

Step 4 — Which voice should I pick?

This is where it gets fun.

Casting suggestions

  • Sōseki, Botchan → 中2 / にせ — young first-person energy
  • Sōseki, Kokoro → 阿井田 茂 — calm reflective recollection
  • Dazai, Run, Melos! → 阿井田 茂 with “Shout” style for the climax
  • Dazai, No Longer Human → まい / 天深シノ — introspective monologue
  • Akutagawa, Rashōmon → 阿井田 茂 — gravitas for the framing prose
  • Akutagawa, The Spider’s Thread → 凛音エル / 花音 — mysterious atmosphere
  • Miyazawa, Night on the Galactic Railroad → 桜音 / みちのくあいり — gentle children’s-story register
  • Miyazawa, The Restaurant of Many Orders → 中2 — quick comedic tempo
  • Higuchi Ichiyō, Takekurabe → 花音 — refined Meiji-era prose

Hearing a familiar classic in a new voice can completely reshape your reading.

Step 5 — What can I do during playback?

Open the work from your library and hit play. Yomite synthesizes the first sentence on your device, then prepares the next sentence while the current one plays.

While playing you can:

  • Chapter forward / back — jump from the chapter list
  • Tap a sentence to replay it — restart from the line you missed
  • Speed 0.5×–2.0× — 1.2× is surprisingly comfortable
  • Sleep timer — “stop in 15 minutes”, great for bedtime
  • Bookmarks — drop one anywhere, resume from it

What if a name or tricky kanji is misread?

Aozora texts include furigana, so Yomite usually picks the right reading. Edge cases (especially personal names) can still trip it up.

The fix: register the reading in the pronunciation dictionary (adding your own entries is a Premium feature).

  1. Settings → Text processing → Pronunciation dictionary, add a word
  2. Word: 空知英秋 / Reading: そらちひであき
  3. Save

That override applies everywhere — this book, every other book, every web article.

When does Aozora listening fit into the day?

  • Commute — short stories finish in one transit segment
  • Chores — long novels in chapter chunks
  • Bedtime — 天深シノ “Whisper” + sleep timer
  • On the move — lock-screen controls. Train, walk, or quick errand reads
  • Walks — poetry collections pair surprisingly well

Wrapping up

Yomite + Aozora Bunko gives you a free audiobook library of Japanese classics in your pocket. If you’ve been meaning to revisit Sōseki or Dazai but never sit down to read, this is the easiest path back.

Works offline — subway, plane, emergency stash. The classics travel light.

Related: Furigana app: read Japanese kanji while you listen · How to fix Japanese TTS misreadings