#zzz-forever

I’ve lived in Japan ever since I was able to watch Japanese TV and get anything out of it, so I’ve had access to a lot of dubbed content through Japanese Netflix and DVD rental stores here. That means I’m not best placed to answer this, but I have found one way that will help I think.There probably isn’t much dubbed-into-Japanese stuff online outside of paid streaming services because most uploaded shows are the original version with subtitles added, not dubbing and also the attitude towards media piracy seems a bit different here. people still buy/rent CDs and DVDs a lot.However, now there is a true Japanese Netflix site, much of the dubbing audio has been uploaded to different Netflix sites around the world. Netflix.com (the US version) has many shows in Japanese. I don’t know how to find a master list BUT if you’re browsing you can check by doing this:1. Click on the arrow to open the details page for whatever show you want to watch::

2. Click the white arrow on the right to get additional details and you can see this view:

If it says Japanese under the audio options then there’s a Japanese dub. 

3. Play the show and can change the audio track when watching using the subtitles/audio menu in the bottom right of the screen on the play bar.Because Netflix has a lot of original content this is a good place to start searching, shows like Master of None, Narcos, OITNB, House of Cards and Bojack Horseman are all dubbed into Japanese and shown on Netflix here, so there’s a good chance the Japanese audio will be available through other Netflix sites. This may well vary regionally though.There are many other shows available on US Netflix with Japanese audio too including The Americans, How to Get Away With Murder, Pretty Little Liars, Gossip Girl, Mad Men, Downton Abbey and Jessica Jones.I recommend teen dramas like Pretty Little Liars that are not overly complex in terms of the vocabulary used for those still on the intermediate plateau like me. If you’re looking to learn specific vocabulary (legal/medical/political) then there’s a good chance you’ll be able to find something that suits you. When watching try to use 100% Japanese, but if there is a key scene (you can tell from the music and intonation) that you don’t understand re-watch just that scene and then switch back to Japanese audio.Whilst I don’t think hat dubbed audio is a true reflection of natural Japanese speech patterns, I do think dubbed media can be a good gateway into watching Japanese TV.I’ve just noticed they’ve added 50 episodes of Chibi Maruko Chan with Japanese audio to US Netflix. There’s no subtitles or option to switch to English and re-watch a scene with this as with the English audio, but I’ve watched all 50 episodes of this show and highly recommend it for intermediate learners still struggling a bit with native Japanese audio. It’s funny and easy to follow. There’s a lot of Peeping Life too, which is native Japanese audio and quite challenging at times, but funny and each episode is only 6m so it’s easy to watch and re-watch.