Hey everyone I’m trying to get set up with buying Japanese ebooks and have really been struggling with getting this to work out.
I am in the US.
I recently purchased 2 ebooks on booklive. One of them I can read in the browser, but the other one has that option grayed out. I tried while using a VPN and it didn’t help.
And it doesn’t seem like the app can be used in the US. So I need to use the web app.
I am frustrated because the book that is grayed out for the web option did have a free sample that I reviewed using their web reader. And I don’t think there was a disclaimer that only the app could be used to read it, but maybe I missed it.
Also, the one I can read on their web browser is more like a scanned page so I can’t actually zoom in much and i can’t select the text. So it’s going to be a pain to lookup words or add them to my deck.
It had a disclaimer warning about that, so
I knew that going into it…
But that’s why I purchased another book that did not have the disclaimer…and of course that’s the one I can’t even read.
Sorry this turned into a rant. I’m just really frustrated. I spent like 2 whole days trying to figure this out and I feel like I’m back to square one.
I used the tofugo guide for getting ebooks outside of Japan to choose BL, but the article didn’t mention any of this and specifically says you don’t need a vpn and etc to use it. In fact, they even talk about using the BL app which doesn’t seem possible if outside Japan?
Maybe I’m doing it all wrong. I hope so! Bec ause I really want this to work. I’m desperate for affordable reading material and loved BL for their elementary school level native material options.
Please can someone share advice on how I can purchase Japanese ebooks outside of Japan?
I have an iPad and a computer, but might have a budget to purchase a new reader if that makes this easy.
I won’t even mind having a dedicated “Japanese” tablet if I knew it would work!
お願いします！🙇
ETA: ok I do now see where it warns you when it doesn’t work on a browser. My bad on that one, but overall this is still difficult & id still love recommendations for making this easier!
by nihonnoniji