君の名は book discussion

[Kawazoe]

Today I have finished reading the 2 chapter of the book - 6 more to go. Third chapter is much longer, it will take me at least a month to go through that one, if not more than that. The reading is pretty difficult for me, but towards the end of the chapter I finally got the flow feeling, so my need for words search significantly dropped. This is also well seen in the vocab spreadsheet

So in a celebration of sorts I have decided to look for more info on a tranditional handicraft that is mentioned in this chapter. Mentioned in passing, so I guess it is no spoiler. The craft is called 組紐 - weaving colorful dimensional cords that are used in Shinto shrines. There is also a word 重り玉 mentioned in the description of this process.

Google search actually shows this pic#1 for this word. These are small spheres made of lead which have various weights and are used in fishing as far as I got the idea.

However, those things that are used in the 君の名は are shown on this pic#2. These are heavy spools that keep the threads for weaving the cords.

I have found quite a few videos on Youtube on traditional way these cords are made and wanted to share one I liked. This is not the only way to make these cords, but this is the one mentioned in the chapter. Many more can be found under 伝統的な 組紐 search tag, plus their modern, lite variants.
組紐 作り方

[Kawazoe]

I have decided to post something here once in a while - as a sign that the reading is still going on. Will try to be back once in 7 to 10 days, in case I get no questions in between. Will be either posting my impressions or just the progress.

My initial goal for this book was to finish it by the end of 2020, it seemed quite feasible at a glance. So the initial target was 20 pages per week - this is also how my Vocab table is organised, chapters are either taken as a whole or split into parts with ~20 pages each.

As I said 5 days ago, I finished the 2nd chapter and went on to 3rd. This one seems to be much easier to read and I have already jumped fwd covering 21 page during this time. I think the reason is the combination of several factors:

• I get accustomed to reading as a process
• I start to skip the vocab I can guess - either knowing the kanji or just purely guessing
• 3rd chapter has more dialogues

My reading routine went to this:

1. First read the part for today, marking the words I do not know or places I can’t understand
2. Closer to the end of the day take the vocabs and scan through the text again. Sometimes one clarified word clarifies a couple of unknown words that follow it. Or stitches together the parts of the sentence that fell apart before.

Small spoiler

I’ve recently read an article about the works of Makoto Sinkai. Inevitably he and his creations were compared to the great Hayao Miyazaki. One of the points I found especially interesting was a statement. It said that Miyazaki in his works put a huge dark shade over human civilization, marking it with thoughtless violence and greed for power - in contrast to rural settings filled with love and harmony between all beings. Sinkai chose another path: he united the ways of humans showing the best and worst of both sides. I recalled that reading his description of Tokyo - as seen by Mitsuha (who always lived in a quite remote corner of Japan) for the first time in her life. A stunning scene, indeed, one of a devastating beauty. I’d like one more time to return to the highest viewing platform of the Tokyo Sky Tree and spend there a few hours observing how the sunlit metropolis goes through the shades of twilight into sparkling night lights.
Whoa. I’m sure talkative today.

[Kawazoe]

“A once in a while” update. I think I will finish the 3rd chapter soon - in one or two days. The latest 25 pages or so went without the vocabulary completion: due to various reasons I was unable to use my desktop and so was out of the tables. Now I am seriously planning to leave the vocab sheet blank for this part since a thought of endless completion of the worksheet makes my motivation go down the drain…
Without the vocab research the reading was surely less colorful. However I was at least able to understand who does what, where and when; to understand how or why was a struggle

I will resume working with vocab spreadsheet from Chapter 4 and hope to fill the Ch3 gap after I finish the book

Spoiler, 18+ and long rambling

To start from afar, I still can’t get used to the way Japanese people treat their bodies and body-related matters. Even though I am not religious personally, my environment is nevertheless heavily influenced by christianity which…how should I put it…at minimum neglects or omits such things as the needs/traits of human body. Japanese literature, on the contrary, just puts these things there, right into the scene - this is just as natural as to mention brushing one’s teeth or selecting clothes to wear

So, what was all that for. It was for the transmigration, or better to say the swap between Mitsuha and Taki - which is also a swap between a boy and a girl. And here I came to these scenes:
First this one. Taki makes notes for himself about what he knows of Mitsuha: her family is such and such; her friends are such and such; she has breasts.
She…has…wut? Err, well, of course she has - she is a girl you know!
Then this one. Yotsuha suspiciously eyes Mitsuha (Taki at that moment) with a question: “You won’t feel your breasts again, right?”
Ohmigott… I laughed like crazy here! This is so sincere, to the extent of being refreshing! Well, at least compared to the general books written in Russian. You know, of course, if you are young and not-so-experienced, it is a huge temptation to explore a body of an opposite gender, especially since it is technically yours for the time being. It is just not so evident maybe, but one thing is to physically turn into a man/woman and another one is to attempt to be a man/woman

One thing though that I cannot take realistically - but well, that’s fantasy setting anyway - is that the author makes Mitsuha and Taki go into another body not only with one’s knowledge and way of thinking, way of conversing etc, but also with some pragmatic skills - like sewing/embroidery for Mitsuha and sketching for Taki. I can’t believe that. Every skill of this sort is not only sth stored in our minds, it is also a physical memory kept within our bodies. Like when I learned playing guitar, all these etudes and gamma drills, they were burned into my hands, into my fingers. Even if my brain forgot the tune, my fingers still remember. Even if Mitsuha comes into Taki’s body with a head full of embroidery routines, his fingers won’t obey so easily… I think. But again, it’s such a lovely story with these small episodes

[Kyasurin]

I just finished the book I was reading, so will be starting this one tomorrow.

[Kawazoe]

Super happy that you join! I was feeling kinda playing a one-man-show here. Not so bad, but a bit lonely
Ow, @Kyasurin - do you need the vocab table to add anything? I think I shared a read-only link in the very first post.

[Kawazoe]

Posting an update on the reading progress: today is 26Nov and I am in the middle of the 4th chapter and also in the middle of the book itself.

Spoiler and some rambling again

Now this is an unexpected twist in the plot, and also quite an emotional one. The description of the meteorite disaster was truly heart-wrenching, even though the vocab was out of my league. This was the most densely marked page of all I read so far. Also, while reading this scene I recalled all those disasters that regularly haunt Japan - typhoons, tsunamis, earthquakes. So they really use this vocab set often…too often maybe.
I lived in Kobe during my studies at JPN school for about a month, and this city suffered from a great earthquake in 1995. They restored almost everything, but part of the marine was left in its devastated state on purpose - as a reminder on how disastrous the nature may be. Even that small piece is striking, so this memory kind of overlapped with the meteorite fall scene.

Overall up to this point I can say that the author sure has a peculiar pick of kanji. The simplest words I would’ve easily recognized otherwise now turn into a puzzle. Like these: 乳呑児 (suckling child), 婆ちゃん (granny), 訊く (to ask) and so on. And many more to follow I guess… without furigana I’d be in deep-deep trouble

[Kyasurin]

@Kawazoe your mystery word on p10 is 薄っすら（うっすら） slightly; lightly; thinly; faintly; dimly
I was going to add it for you but I realised I can’t edit.

[Kawazoe]

Thanks a lot! As I thought, I did not add the edit rights into the spreadsheet link. Now edited in the top post and also Link to vocab list

[Kawazoe]

I have inadvertently missed my own planned shedule of reading updates, so uhhh…feeling uncomfortable even though perhaps not so many people are checking this thread for now.
Anyways, I am following my reading plan and currently am around 2/3 of Chapter 6, or p185 in my paperback. Still on target to complete the book within year 2020 and perhaps even by Christmas!

A few items I found interesting during the past 2 weeks of reading:

• a nice word 浮遊感 “float-play-feeling”. Any associations? If you thought about a portion of some nice spirit, you"re right on the money, since this means “feeling of floating, drifting” and the MC feels like that after he drinks the sacrificial sake . At least I liked it so much it will likely stick to my memory for a long time. As if I have no other more useful vocab to remember, ofc
• a funny kanji 塵 (Jisho). It has three readings, which is pretty normal for japanese - but not only that, these three readings each have a separate meaning. They are not totally unrelated, but still much more standalone than any other example I came across before.

[NicoleIsEnough]

@Kawazoe

these three readings each have a separate meaning. They are not totally unrelated, but still much more standalone than any other example I came across before.

That totally reminds me of 額 - Jisho.org (WK level 24) which has two readings to its three meanings (“amount”, “forehead”, and “picture frame” - like, whut?).

[Kawazoe]

Ow, now that I think of it - you are right! The same goes for 象, ぞう/しょう standing for “elephant” and “phenomenon” respectively. One more facepalm alright.

[Kyasurin]

I have read the first two chapters… definitely not going to catch up with you any time soon

[NicoleIsEnough]

Is it not your cup of tea?

(Because I don’t expect you to be struggling with it, no?)

[Kyasurin]

Well it’s not as beautifully written as Kemono, but it’s more than I’ve only been reading 10 minutes here and 15 minutes there, and as such I’m probably not going to finish it until next year.
Too many other things I want to do, not enough time!

[Kawazoe]

@Kyasurin

definitely not going to catch up with you any time soon

I did not expect to double the reading pace as I go along…this is the first book in Japanese I read by myself after all

@Kyasurin

Well it’s not as beautifully written as Kemono

How is the difficulty of Kemono as compared to Kimi?

[Kawazoe]

I have just come across a word that I cannot but share, even though I think it mostly rings a bell to russian-speaking people here. When I met it while reading I disconnected from the text instantly, silently staring at the word and asking myself if this is really what I think it is.
Okay, with drums and trumpets here it comes: カチューシャ
Or - Katyuusha
Normally this is one of the gentle and intimate forms of the name Ekaterina which is quite popular in Russia. Not only that, though, it is also a name of a weapon of mass destruction which was widely used in WWII. Meet БМ-13, “Катюша”, the multiple rocket launcher

I was just thinking what the hell this word stands for here??
Turned out to be quite…unexpected, I would say
Meet カチューシャ, cute and innocent

Yeap, the hairband style. Wiki says this naming came from one of the Leo Tolstoy’s novels. More precisely, from the hairstyle of its heroine, Katerina.

This world is sure full of wonders…

[Kawazoe]

It’s Christmas time!

And also today is the day to close the book as I have finished reading it. This was my first personal reading challenge and I am happy to complete it successfully, really brings in the mood to celebrate

I will add some polishing to the vocab spreadsheet in the upcoming days since I’d like to re-read the book one more time in the future, with more focus on grammar.

For all those who are considering reading this book, here is some summary and my personal thoughts.

Personal reading specs
Started to read at around 25lv WK, finished at early 34lv.
Reading pace: at start 10 pgs/wk, 2/5s of the book onwards - 20 pgs/wk
Focus: vocabulary
Challenge: from significant to moderate

Vocabulary
The book is good for WK users at 27+ levels, as kanji and some vocab from lv 30-34 are seen often and help you to consolidate your learning. Advanced vocab is here as well, but not as much as to make one suffer.
There is a good portion of 災害 vocabulary in the book. Even though this one is a bit complicated, but it is certainly useful. With all the natural disasters in Japan, one will encounter these words frequently, from news till street signs showing the evacuation ways.
In the rural setting scenes characters use local accent, but it mostly reveals itself in phrase endings.
Author has a preference to select advanced kanji in case there is a choice within one vocabulary item. Like, you will see often 婆ちゃん（祖母ちゃん）、訊く（聞く）and more rarely sth like 樹（木）、噴く（吹く）、掴まる（捕まる）. I was using a book with furigana so it was just another word to look up in jisho.

Grammar
I think this is not an obstacle here, grammar is pretty straightforward. Cannot say that I got everything and got it 100% correct, but unclear items did not prevent me from understanding what is going on.

Complexity
Intermediate. Depending on the pace you select and on the level of vocab/grammar analysis you’d like to do, it may span over from borderline with beginners (good challenge) until borderline with advanced (comfortable reading).

Overall
This novel is a good learning material. The plot is simple, a small addition of mystery and supernatural forces only make it more interesting, while keeping the vocab on a “slice of life” level. Characters are straightforward, no metaphysics, internal struggles or anything of the sort.
On the other hand, the same features make this item a bit plain as a book, nothing to brood over.

Anyway, happy ending! That totally suits the merry mood!

[Kawazoe]

Nope, I hold off watching the movie until I finish the book. Now I have finally fulfilled the condition and will go watch it during the holidays
Prior to reading I knew nothing of the story except the summary on the backcover

[Kawazoe]

Tonight I have spent my “adult time” watching the 君の名は anime together with my husband. He’s not into anime in general but is a huge fan of Hayao Miyazaki’s worlds, so he was quite interested in watching something different.
@yukinet, perhaps you’d be interested to know my impression.
So in short, the anime has a brilliant visualization, really a feast for one’s eyes. However, the book is more rich - I think this word suits the situation. The novel allows to peek deeper into the characters’ feelings and thoughts and also offers a handful details that make the narration multidimensional.
For example, the fact that Sayaka’s elder sister is the radio announcer and their voices are almost alike. This is what allowed her to easily deceive people during the arranged announcement. Or the fact that miko’s dance, the woven ornaments actually tell the story of the previous comet arrival and the disaster it brought to this place.
So overall I feel that anime is a nice visual addition to the novel, but for me it is still secondary to the text. My husband had a positive impression and asked to mark the film for our “watch again” collection.