Welcome to the Week 1 
国宝 (上) Book Club !
Start Date: 2025-11-14T15:00:00Z
国宝 (上) Reading Book Home Thread
| Week | Start Date | Pages | No. of Pages | % | Chapter |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | November 15 | 9–47 | 39 pages | 11% | Ch 1 |
| Week 2 | November 22 | 48–86 | 39 pages | 21% | Ch 2 |
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I just realized the thread is in Bugs & Errors. I think it should be moved into book clubs instead.
Thanks. I guess I’m just buggy… it’s fixed
Here you can see what the 関の扉 kabuki play looks like. The whole video is 30 minutes long, the part in the book starts around 5:01, 関兵衛’s reveal into 大伴黒主 is at 18:55, and 墨染’s transformation at 21:00
And here is an extensive kabuki glossary, in english
EDIT : another YouTube link, for the same production with different actors (and a younger looking 墨染), with the traditional black, green and persimmon curtain at the beginning. The relevant parts are at 13:48, 29:00 and 31:45
Well, this started with a bang ! I very much liked the “Godfather” vibes, and the whole families and groups dynamics. I also didn’t see 辻村 's treason coming.
I wonder why the author chose to use this grammatical style ? Probably because of the yakuza vibes ? It will be interesting to see if it stays the same when the context changes
Bring out your big dictionaries, you’ll need them haha! (広辞苑, デジタル大辞泉, 大辞林, 日本国語大辞典 all have what we need)
I actually struggled quite a bit in the first pages, as I knew nothing about the world of yakuza, their dynamics and all the terminology.
For specific Yakuza rites like 二分八の兄弟盃, only Google had the answer:
兄分と弟分の差がそれぞれ７分３分と８分２分の関係にある兄弟分です。
盃事においては、盃に満たしたお神酒を、七三の兄弟の場合は兄分が７分まで、二分八の兄弟の場合は兄分が８分まで飲み、弟分に下げます。
The dialogue of the first play weren’t as hard as I thought they would be, again the big dics helped a ton.
For me it reflects what seems to be the point of the book so far, a parallel between the highly codified world of the yakuza and the world of kabuki. Isn’t the reveal of 関兵衛 as 大伴黒主 a form of foreshadowing of 辻村’s treason? To me 国宝 is written like a play, because these yakuza live in a world where everyone has to perform a role.
I loved this introduction!
As always, 吉田修一 knows how to build a convincing world and breathe life into his characters.
What a bad omen this was…
この初春に降りつもる今日の雪は予祝であろうと思います。
My favorite part so far. This doesn’t bode well for our MC.
数ある絵柄のなかからミミズクを選びましたのは、野生の鳥類、しかも猛禽類となりますと、人に心を開いてくれるどころか、凶暴なものと思われがちなのですが、実はこのミミズクという鳥、一度、恩を受けた人間は決して忘れないと言われているのでございます。
If I want to talk about the next chapter, should I do it in the Home Thread or wait for the next threads? (this is my first Book Club on WK)
Thank you again for hosting!
Chapter related questions and theories should ideally go into the week specific thread. The thread for the next chapter will be created this weekend. I’d recommend to wait for the creation (and maybe write down your notes so you don’t forget them).
If you read pretty fast, it can sometimes be hard to wait for the corresponding weeks. Therefore, many people read other books on the side during the club to not read too far ahead.
You can also read the book to completion and keep your notes, and just come to the threads for the discussion if you’d like. I feel like a big part of the book clubs is the community aspect, though.
The home thread is more for general discussions not related to chapters (how to get the books, which version, overall impressions, additional recommendations, etc. etc.).
I know I’ll need until the weekend for this chapter, and I’m not sure if I’ll continue with the club. This book honestly feels a little too hard for me at the moment. Just the combination of grammar, dialect, shit ton of names/places, yakuza and kabuki vocabulary (in order of difficulty) makes it not that fun to read at the moment.
Thank you so much! I was a bit lost as to where to write next haha. I’ll just keep taking notes and share them later. 
As for the book’s difficulty, I had the exact same issues when I started. But, it gets easier by the end of the chapter! Re-reading the tough parts and looking up dialects, etc. after you’re done definitely helps!
I also felt overwhelmed and I was this close to stopping after the first 10 pages. But, I told myself that it’s exactly in those moments that we have to hold on, if we want to improve.
頑張ろう！
「しかし、我ながら上出来やったばい。ねえ、坊ちゃん」
「花丸の女将おかみさんが、お風呂焚いてくれとるけん、一緒にもろうて化粧落としてきたら」
(やったら = だったら ; 来てくれなった = 来てくれた)
「前乗りするって話ば聞いたけん、やったら世話になっとる兄貴の新年会に出てくれんですかって頼んだら、来てくれなった」
「ああ、そうですばってん、完全に名前負けしとります」
「最近、よう来るとですよ」
「あんまり無理せんで下さいよ」
Yes, this one tripped me up too 
Oh, you’re probably right ! I hadn’t thought of that (good catch with 大伴黒主 !). That would also explain why the style stays the same in chapter 2 (so far)
I’ll try to post Week 2 friday night (unless work kills me first…)
Yeah, the first chapter was a bit intense… No classical japanese in chapter 2, and less yakuza talk (dialect ? well… )
Courage 
Week 2 is live !
Sooo, I finished the first week.
I have to say, the writing is great in many aspects.
The way the narrative flows from greeting the guests, describing the start of the 新年会, moving on to the Kabuki play while focusing mostly on 権五郎 and the guests. Then it moves to behind the stage, and we follow the two guys, only to indirectly hear about what is now going on in the hall. The fight bursts into our view, only for us to swivel back again to the stair and second floor, to follow 権五郎s final moments. Superbly done.
I’m honestly not even a bit surprised that the movie did well. I can imagine most of chapter one being done with only 2–3 cuts and being such an epic watch. Peak cinema in book form ^^.
But I think I have to nonetheless shelf the book for now. The amount of lookups I have to do and the puzzling over some of the sentences was just too much for me. It didn’t get better after 10 pages, like you described (only a little better after the kabuki play (pg 27. ff.)). I felt like it killed my enjoyment, and I realized on some days I didn’t want to read anymore.
It felt more like study than entertainment, and I think it will be overall detrimental in the long run if I continue with the book.
I will come back to it in the future for sure though. It did manage to leave an impression.
I totally agree! The way he leads us through the story, almost like he’s staging a play, is so good!
And yeah, the more I read, the more I got why it became such a hit as a book and a movie. (His other film adaptations are great too!)
I totally understand lmao. I watched tons of videos on Kabuki and Yakuza, but even that wasn’t enough 
(But I have to say, it definitely gets easier in the next chapters!)
I hope we’ll see you later!
Yes, it’s very cinematic ! I love that too !
Reading should be fun, and in no way a chore; It was nice having you with us for the first week, and do come back once you feel like it !
I finished the first week! A bit late, but I’ll catch up.
It was rough, but I guess it the most beautifully written book I have read so far. But I hope it’ll indeed become easier with he upcoming chapters, otherwise I won’t have time to read anything else for a while
I didn’t understand all the details of the past events, but I wonder how important is it to the story? I understood that Tachibana boss (Gongorou) was on top of the chain, but he had his struggles on the way up. The temporary truce with the Miyachi is broken now with their raid. And since Gongorou is dead now, I guess his son won’t easily forget it.
Do I need to understand more?
