Book excerpt: Hiyaku: An Intermediate Japanese Course provides a progressive intermediate course in Japanese, incorporating modern teaching methods and practicing all four language skills. Hiyaku provides content-based instruction, with authentic and semi-authentic dialogues and readings, all carefully selected to instruct and inspire students as they learn Japanese. Key features of the textbook include: highly structured chapters, beginning with warm-up exercises followed by focused practice of each of the four skills gradual introduction to increasingly authentic materials content taken from original Japanese sources such as books, TV programs, magazines, newspapers and websites extensive audio material provided as FREE MP3 files on a companion website here https://routledgetextbooks.com/textbooks/_author/eguchi/ instructor’s materials, including PowerPoint files provided through the companion website. Hiyaku does not simply teach language and basic cultural points: it also helps students gain a holistic understanding of Japanese society and history, and provides the necessary foundation for the advanced study of Japan and its language.