The season of the long dark is here 
But more time spent procrastinating leaving your warm bed means more opportunities to settle in with a good book 
The winter solstice has returned, the shortest day and the longest night of the year, but so has the 24-hour Readathon! This is the perfect time to bring out any books, manga, visual novels, news articles, non-fiction, and more to join in on a special day with the community. If you can read, you can participate 
How it works: On Sunday the 21st, whenever it begins and ends in your local timezone, read as much in Japanese as you can! The day before or after are also acceptable if scheduling conflicts arise for you. While reading, keep track of your progress in a way that makes sense for your materials: pages or characters, along with the time spent reading them – when you’re finished, report your final numbers in the community “results” reply below and we’ll tally our collective amount together to see what we were able to accomplish.
There is no expectation for the amount you read, or the difficulty, and anyone is welcome to join!
Participation:
Set your goals, make a post if you’d like to
Read during your 24 hours
Add your results to the community tally
Set your goals: Are there any books you’d like to start/complete? How many pages do you think you’ll read before time is up? Challenge yourself to go above and beyond, or simply try to squeeze in a few pages to boost the community numbers. There is a list of participants and links below, add yours if you make a post, too!
Choose your Readathon time: Will you be reading day-of? Need to defer to the day before or after? Throughout your 24-hour period, post updates with your progress. Let us know when you finish something, reach a milestone, or simply can’t read another word without your brain melting. (Snack photos always welcome!)
Add your results: When your 24 hours come to a close, show off your final numbers! Compare them to your goals: did you exceed your expectations, or were you too ambitious with your plans? Did you finish anything that was mind-blowingly good? Did you catch up to a book club you were behind in?
Add your final numbers to the “Results” post in the next reply below. It will be opened to the community at the start of the event – don’t forget to add your time and pages before it closes again!
FAQ
Do I need to read for 24 full hours?
No, this challenge takes place over a 24-hour period, but you are only expected to read for the amount that you’re able during that time. Some of us may make it a personal challenge to read for as many hours within that period as possible, but even 1 hour of reading is an admirable feat.
Can I combine my time from the day before and after, too?
No, the addition of multiple days allows flexibility for those who want to participate but would otherwise be inconvenienced by a strict date. Please do not add reading stats that did not occur during your 24-hour reading period.
Do the books need to be in Japanese?
Yes, this challenge is meant to encourage us to read more Japanese. If you read other language books, please do not count them in the overall tally.
Am I required to post updates?
No, updates are simply a fun way for us to create a community event, but they are not necessary for participation.
Goals:
After each Readathon event comes to a close, I like to add the results together in different ways to watch our growth across all events! The primary standings are the averages of everyone’s efforts: average time, pages, and characters. Averages will benefit readathons that have fewer participants and therefore lower raw numbers, as well as celebrate our community’s efforts as one accomplishment. We are reading together, after all! The previous average then becomes one of many goals to beat in our next event.
During the event weekend, when averages can’t yet be calculated, we also try to beat the raw numbers from previous readathons. For example, if we read 1000 pages together in the last event, can we read 1001 next time? If we read for 10 hours before, can we make it to 10 hours and 1 minute? I always like to say that the numbers are just an added bonus to having fun and reading together, but I can’t stop myself from watching the Results post with bated breath 
New Goals:
Previous Year ( Winter '24): 137 hours, 4.6k pages, 252k charas
Previous Event (
Autumn '25): 213 hours, 7.3k pages, 555k charas
And here are the per-reader averages from the three top-ranking events:
 |
Event | Avg. Time | Avg. Pages | Avg. Charas |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Winter '24 |
6hr 10min | 210 | 11.4k |
 |
  Summer '25 |
5hr 21min | 247 | 3.2k |
 |
Autumn '25 |
5hr 20min | 185 | 13.9k |
| ?? | Winter '25 |
As you can see, the reigning #1 winner for averaged results has been last year’s Winter Readathon for an entire year now 
Can we get a second winter on the board? And beat the last one??
All Results
Chronological raw numbers and thread links:
| Event | Finishers | Time | Pages | Charas |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summer '24 |
16 | 43hr 50min | 2574 | 56.5k |
| Autumn '24 |
33 | 160hr 42min | 6426 | 405.3k |
| Winter '24 |
22 | 137hr 26min | 4632 | 252.3k |
 Spring '25 |
32 | 164hr 29min | 8204 | 161.8k |
| Summer '25 |
47 | 251hr 50min | 11607 | 151.6k |
| Autumn '25 |
40 | 213hr 11min | 7396 | 555.4k |
Per-reader averages from all events:
|
Event | Avg. Time | Avg. Pages | Avg. Charas |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Winter '24 |
6hr 10min | 210 | 11.4k |
|
Summer '25 |
5hr 21min | 247 | 3.2k |
|
Autumn '25 |
5hr 20min | 185 | 13.9k |
| Spring '25 |
5hr 8min | 256 | 5.0k | |
| Autumn '24 |
4hr 50min | 193 | 12.0k | |
| Summer '24 |
2hr 40min | 156 | 3.5k |
Can we do it? 
Let’s read!
- I will participate!
- I will try to participate
- I’ll wait for the Spring Equinox
- I haven’t been able to open a book since the accident
Want some seasonal inspiration? Add something snowy into your goals! Any stories or nonfiction passages with a frosty, wintry element fulfill this extra challenge 
I check the numbers a few times per day to make sure the many results add up to the total at the bottom. If you don’t want to add your results for fear of breaking the table, please don’t hesitate to ping me (
GOALS 
and choccy 
Manga
Novel
Other
Total
6h55m
855
Summer 2025
1h00m
マギアレコード１
Chapter 1 - 6
骨ドラゴンのマナ娘６
少女終末旅行２
ふたつのスピカ４
(
0h50m
シメジ
Tbh, I’ve suppressed what happened last time, but I remember there was craziness 
mitrac’s home post 
The readathon makes the darkest day of the year so FUN!
results
every little counts
Desert Survival club, 
セロ弾きのゴーシュ (Aozora)
>2 hrs 21 min
