With the coming of streaming sites, there is a large variety of languages, dubs and subs of anime available online. Although most people who do not have Japanese as their first language might prefer dubs and subs, there are sites that offer anime in Japanese without subtitles. Not only for entertainment, one might want to watch anime strictly in Japanese to learn the language. This list is not exhaustive and is not in any way a ranking. Our list of platforms to watch anime in Japanese includes;
- Netflix
- Crunchyroll
- Amazon Prime
- YouTube
- Hulu
- Funimation
- Disney+
- HBOMax
- D Anime store
- U Next
Top Japanese Anime Streaming Sites
Netflix
Being quite possibly the biggest streaming site on the internet, Netflix has been airing Japanese anime for some time now. It is quite obvious that it should make our list of sites where to watch anime in Japanese. As a matter of fact, the first Netflix Original anime aired in 2014.
It has been quite some time since then and still dominates the anime space airing Japanese anime like; The Seven Deadly Sins, Kuroko no Basket, Baki, and Blue Exorcist, amongst several others.
When watching from an account with English set as its preferred language, most Japanese anime offered to you will be subtitled or dubbed. To watch strictly in Japanese, you should take the Japanese audio with English subtitles and then turn off the subtitles.
You could also change your preferred language from English to Japanese before searching to get the Japanese audio versions with no subtitles.
Crunchyroll
Crunchyroll is an American streaming site owned by Sony. It focuses on the airing and licensing of Japanese anime. It was founded in 2006 and has been growing steadily since then. Crunchyroll offers well over 1000 anime shows so it is definitely one of the sites where to watch anime in Japanese.
Similar to Netflix to watch Japanese anime without English subtitles, it suffices to take the English-subtitled version of the anime and turn off the subtitles. You can get some anime recommendations from our article on Crunchyroll anime.
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Amazon Prime
Despite not being the best site offering Japanese anime on-demand, Amazon Prime Video has several new and classic anime. It boasts of some excellent content which in some cases can only be found on the website.
It definitely is one of the sites where to watch anime in Japanese as it offers Japanese anime with English subtitles. All you need to do is to turn the English subtitles off. You can access a great range of anime such as Vinland Saga, Rebuild of Evangelion, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Tenjiho Tenge as well as several others.
Youtube
Possibly the most surprising entry into our list of where to watch anime in Japanese, YouTube might be the cheapest option on this list. Copyright laws are rarely ever an issue on YouTube since unlawful videos are blocked quite quickly.
There are quite a few channels on which you can watch Japanese anime, these include; Nippon Animation, Nozomi Entertainment, and others.
Hulu
Hulu is an American subscription streaming site owned mostly by Walt Disney. It offers a library of several television series from many different companies. It also has a wealth of anime shows one can choose from.
Like other classic streaming services on our list of where to watch anime in Japanese, it offers English-subtitled shows with the option of turning the subtitles off. The Hulu library has some great titles like Demon Slayer, One-Punch Man, and Attack on Titan as well as others, all available at no additional cost(adding to your original subscription plan).
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Funimation
Funimation is quite possibly the biggest streaming platform when it comes to anime. It is a necessary entry into our list of where to watch anime in Japanese. The company specializes in the dubbing and distribution of Japanese anime and East Asian media.
The company was founded as far back as 1994. It has licensed several popular titles such as Dragon Ball, One Piece, Yu Yu Hakusho and many others. It has most of its titles available in dubbed and subtitled versions. To watch in Japanese, you just have to turn off the subtitles.
Disney+
This is one of the youngest streaming sites on our list of sites where to watch anime in Japanese. The site is owned by Walt Disney and is barely 3 years old. It principally offers original content made by Disney Plus. It was announced on 22 March 2022, that the platform will start airing Japanese anime.
As it stands, Japanese anime is only available in Japan. To access this content, you will have to make use of a VPN. They are currently airing Black Rock Shooter, and Spy x Family amongst others. All are being aired strictly in Japanese.
HBO Max
HBO Max is even younger than Disney Plus and was launched in the US in 2020. It contains the libraries of Cartoon Network, Warner Bros, and HBO amongst others.
It also has anime like Jujutsu Kaisen and God of High School available to watch in sub and dub. To watch it strictly in Japanese, you can follow the process similar to the other streaming platforms on this list.
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D Anime Store
Docomo Anime Store is a Japanese company that operates as a streaming site specializing in anime. It has the largest library of Japanese anime in the original versions, subtitled and dubbed. Finding any anime to watch in the original Japanese version is quite easy on this site.
U Next
Founded in 2007. U Next is a Japanese streaming site owned by USEN Holdings. It offers movies, TV, anime, manga and music. Using U-NEXT outside of Japan is possible with a good VPN. It has a reasonably large set of anime ready to watch on demand.
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