The purpose of the present study is to reveal whether working memory span or short-term memory span have an effect on listening comprehension in a second language. An experiment was conducted on native speakers of Chinese who were studying Japanese language. The experiment consisted of a listening comprehension test, a digit span test, and a reading span test. The results were as follows: (1) No differences were found between Japanese learners of level 1 and 2 of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test on working memory span and short-term memory span. (2) There was almost no correlation between L2 listening comprehension and working memory span or short-term memory span, regardless of the level of Japanese Language Proficiency Test. (3) It is assumed that listening comprehension mechanism of Japanese learners of level 1 (highest level) was not the same as that of native Japanese speakers.