夜カフェ ☕ Chapter 1 (Beginner Book Club)

Japanese Language Book Clubs
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In my impression that malicious tendencies of Yayako (the name itself!) are described very explicitly in the way she tries (successfully) to make others avoid Hanabi, something which she continues doing in the new school which is a trait of a pretty bad character in any culture I guess.

I talked to my daughter, who just finished 6th grade elementary school, about that scene and for her it is clearly bullying. The Undokai in general is a way to perform as a group no matter what, it is actually a lesson in group behavior rather than competitiveness because anyway the efforts (or failures) of one single person could rarely affect the overall outcome with soo many people in one group.
Personally I think the main “teaching” of the Undokai is to be able to accept the fact that there are people who are capable of doing certain things and other who are not but still everyone gives their best (and should not be judged on the result). From a westerners point of view I quite hate it, like really. It is long and dramatic and somehow unnecessary :rofl: Like I really don’t see the point of training so hard with a group so large and inhomogeneous that only chance can decide who wins but you have heartbroken kids at home crying for at least one whole day in case they are in the losing team…

The overall situation appears to me as if Hanabi failed in building up a large enough clique to protect her from group dynamics due to her character which seems to be a bit of a dreamer. It looks to me as if Yayako actually sees her as a potential thread, she might be pretty enough to endanger her position as the “popular girl”. There are Mangas I read with issues like that in that particular age group where pretty girls had to make themselves unattractive in order to be able to keep friendships with their not so attractive friends which is something that current Hanabi probably wouldn’t be able to think of as she seems a bit socially oblivious.

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Thanks for the interesting cultural insights. The problem with school - in all cultures - is that it’s a closed environment you can’t escape. You wouldn’t normally be in a workplace doing a job you’re not good at or trained for - you were hired based on qualifications, so performing below expectations is certainly a problem (although not a problem solved by public humiliation). In school however, you’re expected to perform well across all fields, even if your personal talents are in a different area altogether. Sure, working harder to better yourself is always expected, but sometimes even working hard won’t get you the expected results. They say that school prepares you for real life, but in real life you almost always have the option to change environments to escape unpleasant/oppressive situations, while in school you’re mostly trapped. Even changing schools is not always an easy, or even available option. To me the first chapter felt like it could have taken place anywhere - the small and restricted school community can often become cruel and feel very hard to escape from, wherever you are.

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The page number is hard to count, as sometimes I read on mobile, sometimes tablet (but never physical).

I don’t even get in the first place that Yayako was bullying. Even now before I found out Yayako was hiding Hanabi’s gym clothes.

Before the image insert
  • そのせいもあったが、ヤヤコは自分の気に入らない人はあからさまに無視したり、悪口を言ったりした。
    • Yayako likes to ignore and bad mouth who she doesn’t like?
  • あたしがきらわれるようになったは、五年生のときの運動会がきっかけだった。
    • Hanabi seriously think Yayako was making trick on her, making her being hated. Around Grade 5.
  • どの競技でもヘマをしたり、みんなからおくれたりするあたしに、ヤヤコはかなりイラついて、
    • Hanabi made a blunder in the match (by not playing well)?
    • 皆から遅れたりする私に - I don’t think I really understand this one
    • Yayako was quite upset.
    • “I can’t be believe you all can’t see that Hanabi wasn’t playing well in sports,” said Yayako.
    • Yayako announced grandiosely and astonishingly.
    • Hanabi thought Yayako made fun of her.
    • Then, everyone gossiped about her.
  • くつや体操着をかくされたこともある。
    • Gym uniform from shoe shop (靴屋)? Ah, I get it now. Shoes and gym clothes.
    • Honestly, I missed 隠された on every earlier reads.
  • Everyone seemed to be scare of Yayako as well. And Hanabi tried to avoid her with all her might.
  • それまで仲良しだった高見沢優だって、いつしかあたしをさけるようになった。
    • Hanabi made friends with 高見沢優, but he (?) avoided her after that.
    • Which part is first name vs last name? 高見沢・優?
    • The person isn’t introduced before Ch.1
    • いつしか seems to be like いつの間にか. I don’t realize it before I really typed it out. Thought of いつ + しか…ない first.
    • Therefore, Hanabi was always alone in the school.
  • 遠足もひとりきりで行動した。
    • 遠足（えんそく） is a new vocab to me, so I missed the meaning of the sentence.
    • Why 行動した? Why not just 来た?
  • Therefore, when she felt ill, she often had to skip school.
  • なるべく目立たないように、ひっそりとすごすことに一生懸命だった。
    • She avoided standing out as much as possible, and worked her best to pass by the time.
    • I failed to understand this one due to ひっそりと過ごす事に一生懸命.
  • Then, at the end of Grade 5, she heard that Yayako had to go to local (public) school. Hanabi heard excitedly (ears erected). So, Hanabi decided to aim for a private school.
  • Hanabi should be more healthy after the last meeting with Yayako.
  • Hanabi thought her grade was rapidly better, and she should be within the range of passing anywhere (entering higher studies).
  • うちのマンションから歩いて五分程度の道のりも、やけに長く感じられる.
    • Even though to her apartment is just 5 minutes’ walk, it feels awfully far.
  • 残り少なくなった桜の花びらが涙のように舞い落ちてくる。
    • Tears dance down like the remaining Sakura petals. (Seems to be cherry tree as in さくらんぼ.)
    • I like this sentence. Very poetic.
  • I don’t even know when Hanabi passed into a school. But now Hanabi is looking at the board, hoping not to be in the same class as Yayako.
    • Why are Hanabi and Yayako thought to be in the same school, anyway?
  • シューッといっきに心がしぼむ。
    • I don’t get シューッと, but Hanabi’s heart suddenly withered.
  • 息をひそめるようにして、生きていくしかないんだ。
    • She had to choice but to hold her breath, and suddenly meet Yayako.

Lastly, is Yayako a boy or a girl?

I don’t get this one. ややこしい?

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There are short introduction cards of the main characters in the front of the book. ややこ is a girl.

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I can’t tell what parts of your post are questions and which are just your interpretations and observations. I’ll try and answer some.

I don’t think so. This sentence says roughly “The start/trigger of my being disliked was the 運動会 in 5th grade.” No trick on Yayako’s part.

No, this is the や meaning “and, among other things”. So they would hide her shoes and gym uniform (among other things).

優 is the first game, 高見沢 the surname. 優 seems to be a female name.

ひっそりと - inconspicuously

She tried her utmost to pass the time as inconspicuously as possible.

She didn’t. Which is why she has to go to the municipal school just like Yayako.

シューッと is a sound effect.

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nvm, It seems that I mistranslated きっかけ.

Jotoba didn’t really search the exact phrase. In a manga I read a while ago (Kaguya-Kokusaretai), 優 was a male’s name. Also, I tried to find a name listing, though I don’t find an exact example. There is indeed a guy named 優 in Wikipedia, but read differently.

Thanks for the website. Jisho failed, and ichi.moe didn’t pick up.

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Oh right, I just noticed. I also know at least one guy called Yuu, but I assumed the kanji would be different?
Edit: According to Wictionary, it’s a female name when read as ゆう, a male name when the reading is まさる.

優まさる • (Masaru)

  1. A male given name

優ゆう • (Yū)

  1. A female given name
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She passed into the last school she applied, according to the first page. Is it 流星? Reading right now.

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No. 「このたびは、残念ながら不合格となり。。。。。」の文字。She was rejected.

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そうだ。It seems that she really failed every entrance exams. But does she have to join school anyway? Are entrance exams necessary only if you want to choose schools?

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I’m pretty sure middle school is not optional. She has to take entrance exams to enter a private school, but there’s no way a child is left out of school completely. Public schools accept everyone.

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Sharing some thoughts on some of the stuff you've got! @polv

I interpreted this as,

皆から: from everyone else
遅れたりする: to fall behind (among other things)
私: me, as in Hanabi

So putting it together, 皆から遅れたりする modifies 私 to describe how Hanabi was falling behind everyone else (among other things she was also messing up on) during sports day.

I read this as: “I’ve never seen anyone as hopeless in sports as you! Unbelievable!”

My interpretation is Hanabi doesn’t go to the school excursions alone (they go as a class) and hence not 行った or 来た, but she does end up visiting places or moving around alone during the trip, and hence 行動した. I read the whole sentence as “Even for school excursions, I moved about alone.”

I read this part as she occasionally gave excuses of not feeling well just to skip school even when she’s feeling fine. Which is a big oof because the bullying made it terrible enough for her to want to skip school :slightly_frowning_face:

I read this more as what little is left of the sakura petals flutter down like tears. No actual tears have been shed here, heh.

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I assume this is たり grammar, which isn’t exactly obvious to me. (but I understand now.)

Make sense when I look at が properly.

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@omk3 gave a good answer, but just for further clarification, children are required to attend up to junior high school (which is 3 years long). Normally, you would attend a public junior high school, and each of those schools are decided based on where you live.

So if you live in X block, for example, you can only go to X school. It can be a pain, like in our situation, we live at the end of a neighborhood. Even though our house is close to Y school (about 15 minute walk), my daughter would have to attend X school which is about a 45 minute walk. According to my husband, the only way this would change is if you moved to a different block.

With that said, Hanabi only has two choices: attend the public junior high school in her neighborhood which doesn’t require any tests to get in. Or study for exams to get into a private junior high school that accepts a limited amount of students. At the beginning of chapter 1, she’s checking the results for the private schools she applied to and unfortunately wasn’t accepted into a single one. Therefore, she’s left with the public school option.

If you're curious about the high school system

High school is not mandatory, so students have to study hard for a chance to “claim” a seat at a high school. Many of them get into public high schools, and if they have higher grades, they can pass the tests to get into better private high schools. Not every student gets into high school, however, hence why junior high school life can be really intense and stressful - a lot of it is dedicated to studying and getting good scores to prepare to get into high school.

If your family runs a business or is a farmer, then you’re not in a bad position and probably don’t need to get into high school because your future is already set. If you aren’t lucky to have a job lined up already, then getting into high school is your chance to advance your career before officially moving out into society. Unfortunately, if you miss getting into high school right away, you’ll be a year behind which paves way to very stressful situations and also issues like suicideas a result of being unable to succeed. The school education system in Japan can be a very dark place due to those realities.

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BTW, can Hanabi wait another year… or repeat indefinitely?

I am trying to read about Ronin, but I don’t realize before, that it is also about high school. (I am also find it hard to search, as masterless samurai is competing.)

I believe there is also a thing about ranking in tests or something, and guidance / recommendation on which high school to choose, or career path.

Furthermore, is it possible to go to high school or university at 20 or 30?

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Hanabi just finished elementary school and entered middle school (or junior high). She is only 12 or so. Education up to the end of middle school is compulsory, so barring health reasons possibly, I don’t think she can take a year off, nor would she (or anyone) reasonably want to. High school or university is another matter.
She might conceivably reapply to private schools for the second year of middle school (I would assume it’s possible but not common, but I’m basing this on school systems elsewhere, not Japan, so I may be wrong), but she’d still have to endure at least a year in her current school.
Her only way out, if she really wants to move out of her current school right now, is to move houses I guess.

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Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the 運動会, and your daughter’s thoughts on the scene, also. It is always interesting to hear other’s views. :grin:

I’m afraid I don’t quite follow what you mean by “the name itself” here, as I’m not picking up on anything inherently negative/malicious sounding from the name?

Is it just a similarity to いやいや that prompted that comment? Or am I misunderstanding entirely and you didn’t mean to imply the name giving hints towards the character’s malicious tendencies?

Certainly the author’s chosen kanji (也哉子) for the name doesn’t carry any inherent negativity that I am aware of, though I would be curious to know if there’s something going over my head!

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Latter half of the chapter.

After the image insert
  • Page 13
    • 結局、同じクラスに、小学校の時からのヤヤコの取り巻きの子はいなかった。
      • There are no old Yayako’s followers from primary school’s time.
    • けれど、ホッとしたのもつかのま、ヤヤコはほんの数日でほかの小学校から来た数人のグループを作った。
      • つかの間 seems to mean fleeting. (and it is already explained earlier.)
      • However, short-lived relieved days, Yayako really got a group of a few people from another primary school.
      • I am not really sure about this one… but Yayako actually got a few followers from another school.
    • さっそく、そのグループの子たちと、あたしのほうを見て笑ったり、こそこそ話したりしはじめる。またか……。
      • And children from that group stated to look at me, laugh and gossip. Again (just like those days)…
      • Not sure if it’s 始める or 仕始める
    • こんなとき、あたしは思わず顔をふせる。
      • This time, I hide my face without thinking. It seems to be like primary school’s time.
    • 間に合うのがいやなんだ。
      • がいや or いや? “Do I make proper facial expression, in time, for outsiders?”
      • Hanabi doesn’t know what expression to make.
      • Hanabi doesn’t understand. Or, those people probably don’t understand?
      • Suddenly, Hanabi gave up on making new friends.
      • But that is only when Yayako is near, it will be hard to make friends, as well as everyone will not want to be with me; just like Yuu-chan.
    • Hanabi made a decision secretly.
      • From those time that Yayako bullied, Hanabi started entering badminton sports club (daringly), to prove that she is good at sports.
        • She played with her parents before even entering the club. The only sports the parents said she is good at.
      • She didn’t like being にぶい and とろい (what are the differrences, anyway?)
  • Page 14
    • グループのみんなに話しているのが聞こえたからだ。
      • Hanabi started to doubt that thought, if Yayako enter the club (which doesn’t happen yet).
      • If everyone in the group (Yayako’s group?) heard the story, Hanabi’s reputation will be ruined (literally, cursed).
      • 話しているの - the talking?
      • Hanabi only wants a normal school life.
    • とぼとぼと足取りも重く学校から帰り、ママとの約束どおり、お米を研ごうとした時、ママからLINEが入った。
      • While going home from school, with weighty gait; just like mum promised, while shining the rice, mum’s LINE came in.
      • ママとの約束 - promise of (that was made) with mum?
      • お米を研ごうとする - I don’t know the exact grammar behind this one, nor the exact translation.
    • Just as I started middle school life, mum returned to work; so, I got a smartphone. And, the family of three chatted via LINE.
      • Mum got an OT (overtime), so Hanabi has to eat with dad. (Mum said)
      • Hanabi sent a sticker (stamp) of frog lowering its head quickly. (了解)
      • Mum is a patterner, and suddenly became busy.
      • Patterner is a job that based on drawned design screens and images, she has to make the so-called PATTERN for clothes stencil paper.
      • As mum is coming home later and later, she also leaves home earlier than Hanabi and dad.
      • Hanabi think mum likes to work hard, more lively and very fun, so she too want to be able to get a career she likes.
  • Page 15
    • Hanabi and dad aren’t used to mum being home late yet.
    • ごはんを炊くのはなんとかなったけれど、料理のうではなかなか上達しない。
      • ご飯を炊くのは何とか成ったけらど - Despite she has to become the one doing things like cooking rice, …
      • She hasn’t become quite good at cooking. (She isn’t yet very good at cooking.)
    • 料理本の中から、簡単そうなメニューを選ぶのだけれど、どうもうまくいかない。
      • She picked the menu that looks easiest in the cooking book, but somehow she wasn’t cooking smoothly.
      • ichi.moe really helps this time (after typing out, and pasting to the website) 上手く行く - to go smoothly
      • Despite that, confirming the recipe many times, slowly do the tasks step-by-step, with all efforts, I made only 1 side dish. (Only 1?)
    • This day, with only materials in the house, I took the challenge of making meat and potato stew. Somehow, I slowly smash potatoes, and put in onion and meat.
    • Papa isn’t delighted, it seems. Not sure if he dislike the food or not…
  • Page 16
    • 数日前、夜中ふと目を覚ましたとき、パパとママが言い合いをしている声が聞こえきた。
      • Many days earlier, I suddenly wake up in the middle of the night, hearing parents disputing.
      • Not exactly sure about ふと目を覚ました, but 目を覚ました should already works.
    • パパは、ママが家事をおろそかにしているともんくを言っていた。
      • Papa has complaint about mama neglecting houseworks.
      • I missed 文句 as a vocabulary, not seeing the Kanji…
      • So, Hanabi has to do some of them, perhaps.
    • ママは、仕事に復帰したばかりで、どうしてもこれまでのようにできないのだと訴えていた。
      • That mama has just returned to work, (papa) complained that somehow so far he can’t do it?
      • :tired_face: I am just tired only by looking at どうしてもこれまでのようにできないのだと訴えていた sentence structure.
    • 学校でもイヤなことばかりなんだから、せめてうちだけは楽しいといいのに……。
      • Hanabi has just met something she doesn’t like at school. At least, her home should be happier.
      • うち seems to be her house in this case.

If it is this much, I can translate the whole chapter if I really want to ask or not sure if I understand. Translating from mobile seems to be counter-productive, though; as the number of pages is exaggerated.

Also, making a vocabulary list is not the priority here; but typing on the whole sentence might help if there is a good analyzing software (like ichi.moe). Also, typing makes me consider the sentence harder. (There is also a little help from IME suggesting Kanji.)

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My thoughts regarding your breakdown

Yep, that’s correct. Within a few days of starting middle school, she managed to form a clique with kids from other schools, which she had to do since none of her previous clique ended up in the same class.

The latter. I’ve also seen it written as し始める.

You have a typo or a misreading. The line is 目が合うのがいやなんだ。I read it as roughly: “I don’t like to make eye contact.” (More literally: “To make eye contact is an unpleasant/disgreeable thing.”)

There is some overlap but にぶい can also be like, sluggish or inert, so physically slow, as well, I think, while とろい is a pejorative way of referring to somebody who might be slow on the uptake, so to speak. “Stupid” or “dumb” would be the English equivalent. Of course にぶい can also trend that way. I’m not 100% on the division. It could just be her repeating what she thinks are her negative traits in different ways to hammer home her low self-esteem.

I interpreted it less as her reputation will be cursed, and that Hanabi thinks that she is just cursed in general. I could be wrong, though.

My interpretation: “I slowly walked home from school with a trudging gait, and when I was about to wash the rice like I promised Mama, a line message from Mama came in.”

It’s 約束どおる, which is “as one promised”, but aside from cutting the phrase short, you got the gist.

研ぐ is in volitional form 研ごう and combined with とする, which is in its past form of とした. とする is basically “to try/to be about to…”

Mama sent the sticker. It’s an apology head bow, not a an affirmative from Hanabi.

More like, “Somehow, the potatoes broke down and became like mashed potatoes with onion and meat.” (Heavily paraphrased because I didn’t go back to look at the exact framing of the sentence.)

With a stew, you want potatoes to be soft, but still have substance. She cooked them in to being mush, basically.

I think Papa liked the smell of the food, but definitely noticed the potato failure, and is unhappy, less so with Hanabi, and more so that his wife isn’t doing what he views as her proper “duty” by being home in time to cook for the family, so he’s “forced” to deal with a young girl trying to figure out cooking instead of eating a “proper” meal (but I’m making a lot of assumptions to get there.)

ふと in this case is like, “unexpectedly; suddenly”

Close. “Mama was retorting that she had just returned to work, and, willingly or not, she can’t do what she has been doing (re: housework).”

どうしても = whether one is willing or not

これまで = up to now

ようにできないのだ = ようにする “to do” + できない “unable to” + の nominalizer + だ copila

と = quotation particle

訴えていた = 訴える “to retort” in て past tense form.

Edit: oops, sorry. Wrote it as a general reply instead of direct without noticing. I will tag @polv so they can see it was meant for them. :sweat_smile:

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Ohh I loved most of peoples discussions (I haven’t read it all but skimmed here and there)

The situation with Yayako (my impression end of chapter)

To me, Yayako is the stereotypical school villain character. As for the initial undokai-thing, I could understand it ever so slightly, as I remember being more easily annoyed as a teen (I think in my case more towards my family and less towards my peers, but still - just more easily annoyed). Like that was definitely mean, but if it stopped there, I wouldn’t call that irredeemable. But then it just continues on and on and the off-hand mentions of hiding shoes and sports clothes and the way she was presented now at the class announcement thing, snickering with her new friends… It’s a bit too evil to seem like a real person to me… though it does bring back some uncomfortable school memories as well, so maybe it’s not that overdone after all.
— end of hidden details —

I have an organizational question about all the spoiler tags here. Do people really feel it’s necessary to use spoiler tags for the current chapter? I copied that rule from the other book clubs, but I feel like it’s pretty hard to find any previous questions etc if everything is in spoiler tags all the time. What are peoples opinions on this? (I might do a poll in the opening post next week, but I thought I’d gather some thoughts beforehand)

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