There’s a good source to find a lot of hiragana text, which is Japanese children books. But of course, most of us cannot get access to it. Fortunately there’s a wonderful site that compile a lot of old children books text which you can use for practice.
This page takes a few part of Princess Kaguya story and layouted so you can focus practicing Hiragana reading.
Important notes before you start:
* How to practice using this page? Below each hiragana sentence, there is a >> mark. Try to scroll & highlight the part after that mark to check the sentence reading in romaji. (The answer is written in pure white text)
* Treat this only as a reading practice, you can totally ignore the meaning. Just try to read the hiragana correctly.To understand a meaning of a sentence require more knowledge in Japanese grammar and is an entirely different skill set than what you want to achieve now, which is to read Hiragana & lock them up in you long term memory.
If you focus on both the word & meaning, your brain will get exhausted very quickly and might get discouraged to learn further.
* Notice some hiragana which being used as particles in a sentence is read differently.
• は , particle to mark topic, is read as WA
• へ , particle to mark direction of movement, is read as E
• を , particle to mark direct object, is read as O
You don’t have to memorize the usage of particles for now, just focus on noticing them and read them correctly. To make it easier to you, hiragana used as particle and read differently is written in bold.
PRINCESS KAGUYA – かぐやひめ
Part 1 : A Golden Bamboo
1. むかし、 みやこ の ちかく の むら に たけとりのおきな と よばれて いる おじいさん が いました。
>> Mukashi, miyako no chikaku no mura ni taketori no okina to yobareteiru ojisan ga imashita.
Long ago, in a village near the capital there was an old man called “old man bamboo cutter (Taketori no Okina)”
2. おじいさん は まいにちやま へ いって たけ を とり, それ で かご を あみ、 ざる を つくって くらして いました。
>> Ojiisan wa mainichi yama e itte take o tori, sore de kago o ami, zaru o tsukutte kurashiteimashita.
Each day the old man went to the mountain to cut bamboo and with that, he made a living by weaving baskets and making bamboo sieves.
3. ある ひ、 おじいさん が たけ を きろう と したら ねもと の ぴかぴか ひかる たけ が ありました。「ふしぎな たけ だ。」
>> Aru hi, ojiisan ga take o kirou to shitara nemoto no pikapika hikaru take ga arimashita. “Fushigi na take da”
One day, when the old man tried to cut bamboo, there was a bamboo with a sparkling base.”It is a mysterious bamboo”.
4. おじいさん は びっくりして その たけ を そっと きって みました。すると どう でしょう。 たけ の なか に ちいさな おんあ の こ が いました。
>> Ojiisan wa bikkurishite sono take o sotto kitte mimashita. Suru to dou deshou. Take no naka ni chiisana onna no ko ga imashita.
The old man was surprised, and gently cut and saw the bamboo. And behold! Inside the bamboo there was a little girl.
6.「なんて かわいい こ だ。」おじいさん は おおよろこび で おんあのこ を だきあげ、いえ に つれて かえりました。
>> “Nante kawaii ko da”. Ojiisan wa ooyorokobi de onna no ko o dakiage, ie ni tsurete kaerimashita.
“What a cute child!” The old man very happily took the girl up in his arms and he took her back home.
7.「これ は かみさま が さずけて くださった に ちがいない。」
>> “Kore wa kamisama ga sazukete kudasatta ni chigainai”
“I am certain this is a gift from the god.”
8. おばあさん も よろこんで おんなのこを だきしめました。ふたり は おんなのこ を たからもの の ように してそれは それは だいじに そだてました。
>> Obaasan mo yorokonde onnanoko o dakishimeshita. Futari wa onna no ko o takaramono no you ni shite sore wa sore wa daiji ni sodatemashita.
The old woman also happily embraced the girl. Together they treated her like a treasure and raised her very carefully.
Part 2 : Born to be a princess
9. ふしぎな こと に つぎ の ひ から おじいさん が たけ を きる たび にこがね が ざくざく と でて きました。
>> Fushigi na koto ni tsugi no hi kara ojiisan ga take o kiru tabi ni kogane ga zakuzaku to dete kimashita.
Next day, strange things happening. Each time the old man cut bamboo, there are golds came out of the bamboo.
10. おじいさん は たちまち むらいちばん の おかねもち に なりました。
>> Ojiisan wa tachimachi mura ichiban no okanemochi ni narimashita.
Suddenly, the old man became the richest in the village.
11. おんなのこ は すくすく そだって、 やがて むすめさん に なりました。
>> Onna no ko wa sukusuku sodatte, yagate musumesan ni narimashita.
The girl grew up quickly, and before long she became a maiden.
12. まるで かがやく ように うつくしく、かぐわしい ほど に きれいな ところ から かぐやひめ と よばれる ように なりました。
>> Maru de kagayaku you ni utsukushiku, kaguwashii hodo ni kirei na tokoro kara kaguya hime to yobareru you ni narimashita.
She is beautiful as if sparkling, and pretty as if fragrant, and from this she came to be called Kaguyahime (fragrant princess).
MORE?
As you can see in the original source, there’s a lot more from the story. But too much stuff might confuse basic reader, so this is all for now. There might be update though, so please look forward to it 🙂
Crunchy Nihongo [Old Version] 
I’m currently practicing using the text on this page, and I’ve notice a few discrepancies:
Part 7: 「これ は かみさま が さずけて くださった に ちがいない。」
>> “Kore wa kamisama ga sazukete kudasatte ni chigainai”
At “kudasatte”, the text in Japanese reads: くださった ending with a た that’s read “ta”.
Part 10: おじいさん は たちまち むらいちばん の おかねもち に なりました。
>> Ojiisan wa tachimara mura ichiban no okanemochi ni narimashita.
At “tachimara”, the text in Japanese reads: たちまち ending with a ちthat’s read “chi”.
I’m not sure what right or wrong, though. I’ll keep going through the entire page and highlight any other discrepancy I find. Thanks for providing this exercise regardless, it’s helping me a lot at learning Japanese.
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Nothing wrong except for this silly mistake I made in my comment: “I’m not sure what’s* right or wrong”. I did pretty well after finally memorizing Hiragana. Thanks again!
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Thank you so much for reporting the discrepancies!! It has now been fixed XD And don’t worry about the mistake you made on your comment, it’s not silly at all, it’s very natural to make mistakes like that and the important part is that your comment is understandable & very helpful XD Again, thank you! I will try to added more practice sentence with katakana later. So please look forward to it! 😀
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