This is our first week of Super Frog! Join us for the suspense and the adventure as we start into an epic journey with our unlikely heroes.
Please remember that there are two versions of the book: one is a bilingual book, while the other is a short story collection. The bilingual book is only available digitally in Japan, but if you have a VPN, you can also get it outside of Japan.
I first read Haruki Murakami’s works more than 15 years ago, when I was working in Malaysia. I enjoy his unusal subject matter and quirky, imaginative plots. Since then, I’ve read many of his books in English, but this is my first time in reading his writing in Japanese (and there’s a bit of a curve!) Join us in discovering this captivating short story!
Vocabulary list
Thank you very much to @Phryne for creating this list! For those who are reading the short story collection, please note that it includes some items from the introduction to the Bilingual Book. Please read the guidelines on the first page before adding any words.
Discussion Guidelines
Everybody should feel free to post and ask questions–it’s what makes book clubs fun! But please do not post until you are familiar with Spoiler Courtesy!
Spoiler Courtesy
Please follow these rules to avoid inadvertent ネタバレ. If you’re unsure whether something should have a spoiler tag, err on the side of using one.
Any potential spoiler for the current week’s reading need only be covered by a spoiler tag. Predictions and conjecture made by somebody who has not read ahead still falls into this category.
Any potential spoilers for external sources need to be covered by a spoiler tag and include a label (outside of the spoiler tag) of what might be spoiled. These include but are not limited to: other book club picks, other books, games, movies, anime, etc. I recommend also tagging the severity of the spoiler (for example, I may still look at minor spoilers for something that I don’t intend to read soon).
Any information from later in the book than the current week’s reading (including trigger warnings that haven’t yet manifested) needs to be hidden by spoiler tags and labeled as coming from later sections.
Instructions for Spoiler Tags
Click the cog above the text box and use either the “Hide Details” or “Blur Spoiler” options. The text which says “This text will be hidden” should be replaced with what you are wishing to write. In the case of “Hide Details”, the section in the brackets that is labelled “Summary” can be replaced with whatever you like also (i.e, [details=”Chapter 1, Pg. 1”]).
Hide Details results in the dropdown box like below:
Example
This is an example of the “Hide Details” option.
The “Blur Spoiler” option will simply blur the text it surrounds.
This is an example of the “Blur Spoiler” option.
Posting Advice
When asking for help, please mention the page number, and check before posting that your question hasn’t already been asked. As the threads get longer, it becomes more convenient to use the Search function, which is located in the upper right corner of the forum. It is the magnifying glass which is near your profile picture! The best way to search is usually to type part of the sentence you are confused about, and select “in this topic”. This will show you all posts within the current thread which has that string of text.
Be sure to join the conversation! It’s fun, and it’s what keeps these book clubs lively! There’s no such thing as a stupid question! We are all learning here, and if the question has crossed your mind, there’s a very good chance it has crossed somebody else’s also! Asking and answering questions is a great learning opportunity for everyone involved, so never hesitate to do so!
Proper Nouns
Name
Reading
Notes
片桐
かたぎり
Mr. Katagiri, Main character
かえるくん
Froggy, Main character
ミミズくん
Giant worm, villain
Discussion Questions
Is this your first time reading Haruki Murakami’s writing? What do you think of it so far? If you have read his writing before, what do you like about his work?
What sentence/passage gave you the most difficulty? Feel free to request some help, or if you figured it out on your own break it down for the rest of us!
What was your favorite new vocab word from this week’s reading?
Was there any passage that you found particularly intriguing? Did it resonate with you (either positively or negatively)? Was it surprising? Offer any insight or new perspective? Was it just beautifully written?
Participation
Will you be reading along with us this week?
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0voters
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Don’t forget to set this thread to Watching in order to stay abreast of discussion!
In my time zone it’s still the 14th, but I have an early flight tomorrow morning!
The vocabulary list will get updated, most likely on Sunday.
Happy reading, and what do you think about Super and/or Haruki Murakami’s work so far?
Can’t wait to dig into this one! I’ve read a few BBC books but always after the book club is over. I’ve had 海辺のカフカ and ノルウェの森 in my book collection for years but never got very far into reading them pre-Wanikani.
I’m about halfway through, but here are a few thoughts and question.
We have that 脚 kanji which reads just like 足. My IME shows me a definition written in japanese, I think this more specific to the leg, while 足 can be leg + foot or just foot?
Not sure about this sentence: べつに危害をくわえたりはしません. I can see on jisho that it’s probably 加える, which can mean “to inflict (damage)”. What is that はしません tho. I suppose it is the は particle then する. He uses it again later, at least twice. I suppose that は would imply “I won’t hurt you, (but I have some other business with you)”
でもこうするよりほかにしかたなかったんです, “but I had no choice but to act like this”. Interresting use of より here that I don’t remember ever seeing.
身体 kanji combinaison with からだ furigana, not just 体. I suppose it puts emphasis on the physicality or Kaeru, the way he (she ?) moves that proves it’s not a costume.
少しは落ちつかれましたか? : “Were you calmed down [by X] ?” This here is the passive voice. Is Kaeru refering to something that could have calmed down Katagiri, or is it just respectul passive ? 落ち着く is an intransitive verb…
I love how Kaeru suddenly switches gears and goes from very polite to full sarcasm "Yeah sure, go ahead and poison yourself with cigarettes and alcohol, I mean who am I to judge ?
We then enter the dialogue and things get trickier.
What is クミ referring to ? Is it like a famous Frog ? Or is it a pun くみかえる ? I don’t quite quite get the dialog that follows, and I suppose this is the key.
So, for 脚 and 足 I asked my husband, who is Japanese. According to him,
脚 is most commonly used for a table or chair leg. If it’s used for a person, it would be from the hip to the top of the ankle.
足 is more common for referring to people’s legs, and it can include the foot, ankle, and leg together.
Hopefully that’s helpful. We’re in a restaurant waiting for okonomiyaki (not in Japan, unfortunately), so it’s an appropriate dinner topic! Enjoy your day.
I’ve read some critical analysis of the story, and apparently there are a lot of references to the Tokyo stock market crash in the 1990s, so the excessive drinking and smoking could refer to excesses of those who were involved.
Regaring クミ, apparently it’s just a random name that is implied to be one of some mob boss, or a customer of the bank Katagiri works at. He wonders if Kaeru is here is here to make an offer that he couldn’t refuse.
Alright, time for that huge last sentence:
Summary
理解しあうのはとても大事なことです。 It’s very important we reach a mutual understanding
But I’m afraid we don’t have time to take the long road. So if we can reach understanding through the shortest path, it would be best. So ask as many question as you like
BUT in between the two is:
理解とは誤解の総体に過ぎないと言う人もいますし、ぼくもそれはそれで大変面白い見解だと思うのですが
I’m not sure about this one. Some people are more inclined to disagreement ? I myself, in that case, have some peculiar opinions but… ?
EDIT: a quick deepl gave me the key:
理解とは = understanding is (とは marks a definition)
誤解の総体 = the union or all misunderstanding
に過ぎない = nothing more than
と言う人もいます = there are also people who say (this bit here is made clear by the fact that と言う is written in kanji).
=> There are also people who say that understanding is nothing but the sum of all misunderstanding, but I found that a silly idea.
Still working my way through but I think I’m getting close to the end of this week’s reading? I definitely have a few questions but in general I think I’m keeping up pretty well! I need to remember to highlight the parts I want to revisit and ask questions about.
My guess was that クミ means 組 or group and is in katakana to emphasize that it’s not just any old knitting circle-type group but rather the implication of some kind of yakuza or gang. Seems like that’s reinforced later by Kaeru-kun’s response about 暴力団 (crime syndicate).
i.e.
「ひょっとして、あなたはどこかのクミの関係者じゃありませんよね？」
“You don’t happen to be related to some kind of group, are you?”
Hi! This is my first time reading along So far, I’m really enjoying it! I’m not sure how many of the readers are reading the short story, but I’m a little confused about how far I should read. Do I just read the entire first story,「UFOが釧路に降りる」? Does anyone know?
We’re just reading Super Frog Saves Tokyo「かえるくん、東京を救う」. If you’re reading the “After the Quake” short story collection like I am, then it’s the fifth story in the book. Here’s what the ToC of my ebook looks like:
I like how the story is starting so far! One phrase that really tripped me up was when Katagiri says「どのようなかたちにせよ、あなたのお役に立てることはありません」.
I got that he was saying that he wouldn’t be any use to Froggy due to his lack of decision making power at work. But どのようなかたちにせよ didn’t make any sense to me, even after looking up にせよ which means “even though” or “granted that.” What helped a lot was reading that せよ is a literary form of しろ. So I think Katagiri is saying that no matter what form the request takes, Katagiri wouldn’t be of any use to Froggy.
I just finished the week 1 reading. I had no idea what this was going to be going in. I’ve heard the of the authors name, but I have no idea what kind of books they write. So far I am very . I would also be very skeptical if a giant talking frog showed up in my apartment building telling me he needs to save tokyo from ruin…
I live in Mexico City, so if anyone broke in, no matter the species, I would be running pretty fast
With Haruki Murakami, anything can happen (though this story is weirder than some of his works!)
Week 1
tomorrow morning!
So far, I’m really enjoying it! I’m not sure how many of the readers are reading the short story, but I’m a little confused about how far I should read. Do I just read the entire first story,「UFOが釧路に降りる」? Does anyone know?
. I would also be very skeptical if a giant talking frog showed up in my apartment building telling me he needs to save tokyo from ruin…